Haunted
by blasphamy6669
Summary: Cameron slowly starts to lose her mind after the tragic death of a patient. Will the team be able to save her when she falls ill with the same deadly disease?
1. Past and Present

I'm not a doctor so the medical may not be right, I'm sorry. Well, if you are here and reading this that must mean you love Cameron torture because that's what this is. If you're looking for a story that's all kittens and moon beams you're in the wrong place, but if you're looking for a little torture to brighten up your day pull up a seat and relax. By the way, some of this chapter is told in flashback, but italics are kind of hard to read. The details of the case are the flashback.

**Disclaimer: **House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, the plot is mine.

**Warning:** This story contains material that is not may not be suitable for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

**Haunted**

Chapter 1: Past and Present

Stormy grey clouds hung heavily in the darkened sky. Alison Cameron sat on her window sill staring into its countenance that seemed to mimic her own melancholy mood. They had lost a patient today, she always felt responsible for a loss but this one she felt even deeper. Lilly Annette Gale, she was only a year old, the only child of Alex and Hannah Gale. Alex had died a month after Lilly's birth from an unknown disease and now she had perished of the same illness. Cameron hoped that Lilly wouldn't become her Esther, she hoped that she would be able to put this behind her.

What haunted Cameron the most was not that they were unable to save the girl but the way in which she died. She had presented with a fever and a rash, which was nothing out of the ordinary, but as the exam went on she developed hypersensitivity as well which intrigued House so he took the case. As the day progressed Lilly only got worse.

"O2 stats are through the roof, if we don't get them down her lungs are going to collapse." Foremen announced as he entered the conference room with a manila folder under his arm.

"So, it's reached her lungs now?" House asked as he wrote the new symptom on the white bored. The whole case didn't make any sense, there were too many pieces and nothing to tie them together. Besides the high O2 stats there was also a fever spiking around 104 degrees, hypersensitivity, hyper coagulation, and massive legions were covering fifty percent of her tiny body. Any of which could kill her if they didn't get it under control and soon.

What worried the team the most was legions. The blood tests had all came back negative for toxins and heavy metals, they had even tested for anthrax though no necrosis had been found. All the tests came back negative, Legionnaire's Disease, Rickettsial, Fungal Pneumonia, and Sarcoidosis. Some evidence pointed towards an auto-immune disease so they started her on cytoxan but there was still no improvement. The only drug that did little Lily Gale any good at all was the methotrexate which was an IV anti-inflammatory.

"I've got a few more symptoms you can add to the list." Chase entered the conference room, arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the door frame. The yellow scrubs highlighting his golden hair as it fell over his eyes. "Parabronchial thickening, enlarged hilar lymph nodes, and purile effasions." So the methotrexate wasn't working anymore.

"What are we missing?" House said to himself as he looked over the new symptoms. He knew that if the answer wasn't found soon Mrs. Gale would be burying her daughter.

"Leishmaniasis." Cameron suggested. She had just returned from visiting Lily and Hannah and was still a bit shaken by the sight of the young girl's withering form. She had seen many patients in worse condition but seeing a child like that was not easy.

"Big world traveler?" House asked. Cameron shifted a little then shook her head. "How about suggesting something that is useful."

"Lupus." Foreman threw out.

"No, the phospholipids antibodies were negative." Chase said from behind his fingers as they rested on his lips."What about churg-straus?"

"Already tested, it was negative." Cameron crossed her arms over her stomach as she stared at the whiteboard.

"Multiple neurofibromatosis." Foreman shrugged.

"There's no evidence to support a neurological condition." House said as he twirled his cane. All three of the duckling's pagers went off simultaneously informing them that they needed to get to their patient's room.

As predicted her lungs had collapsed. They were able to stabilize her, but the legions now covered eighty five percent of her body and were starting to eat away at her flesh leaving gaping, infected holes. This new symptom lead them to believe that it may be fasciitis necroticans or the flesh eating disease as it is commonly called but at the rate it was progressing they didn't have time to test for it, Lily only had a couple hours left. There are three different treatments for fasciitis necroticans, with the rapid rate of progression the team decided to give her a cocktail of all three, penicillin, vancomycin, and clinamycin.

While House and the other two minions left to run more tests Cameron stayed behind to monitor the girl's condition and comfort Hannah as best she could. The treatment was not working. The pain got to be too much and she had to be put into a chemically induced coma. It was hard for Cameron to out Lily under, in her heart she new Lily wasn't going to wake up. Once again Cameron stayed behind to comfort Lily's grieving mother as she watched her only daughter melt away. Exactly twenty four hours after Lily Gale was admitted she died.

* * *

Cameron sat at her kitchen table, legs drawn to her chest as she gripped a hot cup of coffee. Work was the last place she wanted to be today, after Lilly's death yesterday all she wanted was to sit at home. But she knew that the world wasn't going to sit and wait for her to grieve for the loss of a child so she would put on her best face and trudge on. With a determined sigh she picked up her newspaper flipping through its pages nonchalantly. Nothing of interest caught her eye, not the on going war over seas, not the recent trend in the stock market, the only thing that held her attention was the obituary for one Lilly Gale. Lilly Annette Gale, the picture of a bright and vibrant blond headed toddler smiling as she clung to a Barbie doll, such a contrast to her final agonizing hours. Cameron wished she could remember Lilly this way, but the image of the one year old's pained and confused blue eyes as her skin melted away, at the end it became far to painful for her mother to hold her dying daughter

She drew in a heavy breath as she shut the newspaper, as she let it out she heard a small giggle. Gasping she turned to see where the noise had came from. There sitting on her kitchen floor was a baby, no older then six months old, with a small cut above its right eye. "How did you get in here?" She asked as she scooped the baby into her arms and carried her over to the sink to clean the cut. How did it get in here? She hadn't heard the door open or any one come in. "Where is your mommy?" The baby cooed and giggled again as it put a clump of Cameron's brunette hair in its mouth. "We'll find her. But first, I'm going to call House and get you looked at."

She dialed the number by heart, looking away for only a moment. "House, this is Cameron. I know you're home." She sighed, she knew House never answered his phone. "I found a baby sitting in my kitchen, I'm going to bring it in for the team to..." She froze as she heard the most blood curdling scream coming from the child in her arms. As Cameron turned her attention back to the baby she noticed the bleeding had started again, even worse then before. Quickly she sat the phone down and grabbed a cloth to stop the bleeding, the child screamed again, even more horrid then its predecessor. Cameron screamed as well, tears streaming uncontrollably out of her eyes as the baby began decomposing in her arms until it was nothing more then red, putrid jelly and fell splashing to the floor.

Cameron screamed as she sat straight up in her bed, cold sweat beading on her forehead, warm tears streaming down her cheeks as she gasped for breath. Frantically she looked around, only calming slightly as she realized that she was in her bed. A nightmare, it was just a nightmare she told herself as she lay back down, trembling from head to toe as she clung to her pillow, just a nightmare.

Tbc.


	2. Promises

Good afternoon everyone, here's a little Cameron torture to brighten up your day. Thanks for all the reviews.

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot belongs to me.

**Haunted**

Chapter 2: Promises

The night passed with out granting Cameron anymore sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Lily's tortured blue eyes pleading with her as her flesh melted away. She noted the dark circles that graced her eyes as she looked at her tired form in the bathroom mirror, sighing she applied a little more make up then usual to cover them up.

There was a slight chill in the air, which was not at all unusual for New Jersey, as she walked to her car, the cool breeze felt relaxing as it blew through her hair. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the wind kiss her with its gentle touch. She opened her eyes again as she heard the sound of metal hitting pavement, squatting down, she retrieved her fallen keys. As she stood back up she saw the reflection of a young girl on her window. The little blonde haired girl appeared to be about one year old and remarkably like a healthy Lily Gale.

Cameron spun around, the little girl giggled as she played with a bug in the middle of the street. "Lily?" Cameron said in nothing more then a hoarse whisper as she took a step forward. No, Lily is dead, this is some other little girl. Cameron told her self as she slowly inched forward. The little girl continued to laugh and play as Cameron stooped at her side. "Hi." She said in a shaky tone, the resemblance between the little girl and Lily was uncanny. "Let's get you out of the road." She reached down and picked up the little girl who smiled up at her with bright blue eyes.

She giggled and coed some more as she showed Cameron the bug she was playing with. Cameron's face scrunched up in disgust as she saw the maggot curling around in the palm of the blonde headed girl's hand. "Those are nasty, you don't want to play with those." She said as she brushed it out of her hand. The little girl smiled as Cameron as she turned her attention back to her shining blue eyes returning the smile. As the girl's

Smile widened Cameron noticed another maggot, this one crawling on her face. She reached up to wipe it away, as she did a section of skin came with it. There was no blood, no bone, just maggots.

Warm tears fell down Cameron's face as she screamed. More and more flesh began falling away as maggots and worms crawled out of the holes. The shimmering, laughing blue eyes melted a way as a large worm crawled out of the left socket and went in to the right. Cameron released her hold letting what was left of the girl fall to the ground. As it hit the pavement it was nothing more then a puddle of insects. Cameron could feel her stomach churning, as she stared at the squirming, slimy creatures before her, it took all the strength she had to keep from throwing up.

A loud noise penetrated her ears tearing her attention away from what used to be a little girl. As she looked in the direction the noise had came she saw a large truck heading for her, quickly she moved out of the way as it came barreling past. Leaning against her car she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, noticing a few people staring at her with nervous or worried countenances.

* * *

"You're late." House said by way of greeting as Cameron walked through the doors of the clinic. She was pale and clearly shaken by something, had she been doing meth again? "Been playing with the bugger sugar have we?"

"What?" Cameron looked at him confused before brushing it off. "No, I didn't sleep well last night." She said as she continued past her boss towards the elevator.

"The Devil's Dandruff will do that to you." House called after her causing a few of the newer nurses to stair at the immunologist as the doors closed her inside the elevator.

Chase and Foreman were sitting inside the diagnostics lounge 'researching' as Cameron entered the room. Chase looked up from his crossword with a mumbled good morning through the pencil in his mouth. Foreman nodded a hello and went back to staring out the window.

She returned the greetings and sat in her normal spot as she pulled out her lap top and went to check her mail. "Did they find anything out on Lily's autopsy?" She asked, trying not to sound like she actually cared about it.

"No." Chase said as he took the pencil out of his mouth and tossed it onto the glass table. "But they did keep a sample of her infected blood to run tests on. They turned the body over to her mother this morning."

"Are you okay, you look tired?" Foremen inquired upon seeing the paleness of Cameron's skin and the dark circles beneath her eyes.

"Fine." She shrugged and continued typing.

"A little girl died yesterday. It's okay if you're depressed." Chase said as he gave her a sympathetic look. "I didn't get much sleep last night either."

"Same here." Said Foreman as he poured himself a fresh cup of coffee. "I think what bugs me the most is we couldn't figure out what it was that was killing her."

"Do you think this is going to be another Esther for House?" Chase said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Probably." Foreman sat down at the table with the other two ducklings sipping from his black mug. "But I hope we never see whatever the hell that was again."

"Hey, Cameron…" Chase turned his attention to her, she was staring off into nothing tears beginning to gather in the corner of her eyes. "Cameron?" He leaned forward putting a hand on her shoulder.

* * *

There was a blonde haired, blue eyed girl sitting in the corner of the diagnostics lounge. It was the same little girl Cameron had seen in the street outside her apartment except now she appeared to be four or five.

"Come play with me." The little girl laughed as she held up a doll. "We can play doctors and you can fix my dolly. She's very sick. All her skin is going away." The little girl smiled at Cameron as she held the doll close to her as if she were trying to comfort it. "Where does your skin go when it goes away? I used to have pretty skin like my dolly's, but it went away too." The rash that Lily presented with started forming, then came the legions. It was all Cameron could do to keep from screaming as the legions faded into the infected, puss filled wholes. "Where did my skin go?" The little girl asked, her mouth only being held together by nerves and sinews.

"Cameron?" She felt a hand on her shoulder and jerked out of the hallucination. "Are you sure you're okay?" Chase asked in a worried tone.

"Fine." She said in a trembling voice as she looked at her colleagues.

"Is that why you're crying?" Foreman pointed to the tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm fine." She said as she quickly wiped them on the sleeve of her lad coat. "I'm just a little tired is all."

"Maybe you should go home and rest." Chase said as he looked into her melancholy blue eyes.

"No, I'm fine. Really." She said with a sad smile. "I just need some fresh air."

* * *

Cameron stood on the roof looking out over the landscape of Princeton. The little girl was Lily after all. She can't tell anyone she's hallucinating or they'll think she's crazy, maybe she is crazy. But if she was going to help Lily she needed to be able to do something and not be doped up on Haldol and strapped to a bed on the third floor psych ward. The only reason she could figure why Lily was haunting her was so that she could find out what had killed her and what had killed her father, maybe then Lily could find peace. "I'll find out what killed you." She said to the air as it brushed over her face. "No matter what it takes, I promise."

Tbc


	3. Fourty Eight Hours

This is a short chapter but it was all that needed to be told. Thanks to all of you who reviewed on chapter 2, reviews make me happy and when I'm happy I like to make those who made me happy, happy. Therefore the more you review the more I will update.

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter3: Forty-Eight Hours

Dr. Douglas Baum had been the attending on Alex Gale's case eleven months ago. Cameron had contacted him to get all the information she could on this disease. Dr. Baum faxed over everything he had on the case but said he would have no part in dealing with the disease again. Cameron sat at her kitchen table diligently reading the file hoping to find some answer as to what had killed Lily. The disease had taken the same coarse in the father except it took longer to kill him, forty eight hours.

The fact that it took longer in adults didn't make much difference, it didn't help Cameron figure out what it was, or what caused it. Maybe if House had been given more time he would have been able to figure it out. Cameron also checked several on lie medical data bases and found no documented cases of the illness.

She could feel her eyes begin to feel heavy as she reread Alex's file for the fifth time. It had been a long day and the lack of sleep from the previous night certainly didn't help matters. She forced her eyes to stay open with a determined sigh and continued to read. After the sixth time through the file she tossed it aside and rested her head in her hands. The answers were there, they had to be. Didn't they?

Cameron could not help but feel the urge to cry as an overwhelming sense of failure and uselessness washed over her. She envied House's skill and intelligence when it came to solving tough cases, it often made her feel like a bad doctor at times too. Perhaps she was a bad doctor, maybe this wasn't the right occupation for her. Death is an everyday thing, but there was just something about the way in which Lily died that would not leave her mind. She feared that if she didn't find the answer soon she would lose her mind.

"Lose my mind" She mumbled from beneath her palms. "I think that's already happened. I'm pretty sure hallucinations fall somewhere under psychosis."

"I lost something too." Cameron jumped out of her seat as she heard the voice coming from behind her. Lily stood behind the chair in which Cameron had been sitting, this time she appeared to be about ten years of age. The fact that she had appeared again wasn't what frightened Cameron who backed away towards the refrigerator unable to scream, it was that Lily had no skin, the deep cavernous holes covered her entire body. "Will you help me find it?"

Cameron felt her stomach turn as the smell of puss and rot drifted into her nose. Covering her nose with one hand she backed away farther. "I'm trying to help you. I just need more time."

"Time falls away too quickly. Where was time when I needed it?"

Cameron's back hit the refrigerator door as she took one more step. There was no where else to go. She could feel the warm tears now, as they fell from her eyes.

"Where was my time?" Lily asked again as she took a step forward. Cameron cringed as she heard the sound of bones breaking as Lily stepped towards her. "Can you help me find it?" Three more steps, bones snapping, popping, crunching like twigs, she was only a few steps away from Cameron now. The smell, the holes, the breaking bones, Cameron wept as the bright blue eyes peered deeply into hers.

Slowly Lily took one more step, as she put her weight down Cameron heard the most horrid snapping sound as she came crashing to the floor. Cameron let out the most heart wrenching scream as blackish red blood oozed from the holes in Lily's skin, the smell intensified ten fold as green puss began to mix itself in stream. Cameron doubled over vomiting what little content she had in her stomach, she closed her eyes trembling as she cried. When she opened them again Lily was gone.

Tucking her knees into her chest Cameron began to sob uncontrollably. After about twenty minutes she was able to collect herself. She forced herself off the floor and cleaned up her mess though she still trembled. She took in several shaky breathes as she tried to get her muscles to stop spasming. "I need a shower."

A shower was a good idea, she could feel her muscles relax as the hot water cascaded down her body. Her head rested on the wall as she breathed deep the steam the clung heavy in the air. She stayed like this until the water turned ice cold, quickly she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself as the cold air hit her. As she wiped away the steam from the mirror she cried out as she saw the image of Lily Gale just as she died.

It was gone as soon as it came, Cameron once again fought to get her breathing under control. Time, if only they had had more time to test the disease they could have helped her. Cameron drew in a deep breath as she realized what she needed to do. Time may be up for Lily but she could at least find the answer to give her peace.

* * *

"Good morning, Dr. Cameron." Nurse Brenda greeted cheerfully as the immunologist walked past her with long determined strides. Cameron merely nodded a greeting and continued on. On past the clinic, on past the pediatrics, on past diagnostics and oncology and down to the morgue.

They had kept a sample of Lily's infected blood to run tests on it. Cameron hoped that it was still there, if House could run tests he could figure out what it was that killed the little girl and her father. After a few minutes of searching she found what she was looking for and headed for Dr. House's office.

House was leaning back in his chair playing Metroid Prime on his Nintendo DS, Chase was sitting half asleep in the chair next to the door with a pencil in his mouth as he looked over his latest crossword while Foreman was discussing a case with Wilson as Cameron walked in. Her face was flush, eyes tired as she glanced at her colleagues then looked dead at House. "You have forty-eight hours." Before anyone could ask what she meant she jammed a syringe into her thigh.

Tbc.


	4. Infected

Sorry about the wait, I got a new computer and I've been working on getting it up and running. Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter.

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 4: Infected

Nurse Brenda had just finished getting everything squared away in Cameron's room when Dr. House came in carrying a large plastic container under his arm. Brenda gave a worried glance towards the immunologist before scurrying out the door. House placed the container on the floor next to Cameron's bed then grabbed the pitcher of water off the cart that the nurse had left behind. Walking back to the container he poured the contents of the pitcher into the container then with a pious and determined smirk stepped inside it.

Cameron starred at her boss as he looked around almost as if he were confused about something. "Dr. House, what are you doing?" And they thought she was the crazy one.

"Can't do it." He said stepping back out, his tennis shoes squeaking on the floor.

"Can't do what?"

"Walk on water." He shot her a glance mixed with anger and concern. "Isn't that what you're expecting?"

"No, I just thought that..."

"You weren't thinking! Thats the problem!" House shouted at her making her recoil slightly. "You injected yourself with a disease that we don't know how to treat or what it is for that matter! Why? The girl is dead, you're not going to save her."

"I thought that if you had more time you could figure out what it was that killed her." Her voice was small a meek as she played with a loose thread on her gown. "She wanted me to help her. This was the only way."

"What do you mean she wanted you to help her! She's dead for crying out loud. Correct me if I'm wrong but I've always thought once you're dead you can't talk to people!" He couldn't believe what he had witnessed not even an hour ago. Cameron had walked into his office and injected herself knowing it was a death sentence if they couldn't find a cure. "Do you think this makes you some kind of martyr?"

"No, I just wanted to..."

"It makes you dead! You're an idiot!" House's shoes squeaked as he turned around and headed for the door. "Do you remember that slack jawed expression she wore at the end?"

"Yes." Cameron whispered as she pictured Lily in her mind just before her death.

"Thats the look of brain numbing pain." House stopped in the open door way and turned back around. "Congratulations Dr. Cameron, you just earned the number one spot in my Idiot's Hall of Fame. Don't expect any sympathy from me, you brought this on yourself." He shook his head as he walked out the door mumbling. "Such a waist."

Cameron cupped her face in her hands as tears started falling from her already bloodshot blue eyes. No symptoms presented yet but it was only a matter of time.

* * *

"What happened?" Cuddy asked as she walked into House's office. "I heard that Dr. Cameron has been admitted." In the lounge the other two ducklings and Wilson were pouring through medical books and files only glancing up for a moment at the new figure that appeared in the adjoining room before returning their attention back to the task at hand.

"She has." House didn't look up from where his head was resting in his cane. He could feel the wave of annoyance emitting from the Dean of Medicine as she tapped her foot waiting for a real answer. Sighing House leaned back in his chair and gestured for her to sit down. "She injected herself with infected blood."

"Infected with what?" Cuddy asked as she crossed her legs and leaned forward in her chair.

"Lily Gale's infected blood." He paused as he heard a light gasp from his boss as she covered her mouth. "We don't know what it is or how to treat it. Luckily no symptoms have presented as of yet."

"Why did she do that?"

"I don't know." Thumping his cane on the floor he let his head drop back so that he was looking up to the ceiling.

"Do you have any leads?' She glanced into the diagnostics lounge at the three doctors pouring through books around the glass table.

"No."

"So what are you going to do?" Cuddy shook her head as she imagined Cameron with the skin being eaten off her bones the way Lily's had.

"Treat the symptoms. I've started her on warfarin and heparin for the hyper coagulation and methotrexate."

"There's nothing else you can do?" Cuddy asked with a heavy sigh as she looked pleadingly at the head of diagnostics.

"There's nothing else to do unless we can figure out what's causing it." Both doctors looked up as Chase walked into the room.

"She's got a fever of 100.6 and there is a small rash on both of her feet." The distraught look on his face suggested that there was more to tell. "She's also loosing her hair."

* * *

Cameron was in tears as she held a large clump of her hair in her hand. She had been brushing her hair when she pulled a large tuft of it out. Hair loss wasn't a symptom of Lily's or Alex's cases, why was she loosing hers. She tossed the hair into the trash can as Chase and Foreman came into the room. "Hey." She greeted giving them a weak smile.

"How are you feeling?" Foreman asked as he went to draw a blood sample.

"I'm alright. Has House got any leads yet?"

"No." Chase answered as he poured her a glass of water. "We're still looking. For now we're going to treat the symptoms."

"Hair loss is a new symptom, so that's good right?" She felt the bald spot on the back of her head as she looked at her two colleagues.

"The hair loss was caused by the warfarin, heparin, and methotrexate, not by whatever killed Lily." Foreman cleaned the area before sicking a needle in to draw blood.

"Not a new symptom then." Cameron sighed, leaning back as Foreman finished.

"Why did you do this to yourself?" Chase asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was curious about finding the answer to what disease had killed the little girl but why would anyone go so far as to inject themselves with a disease.

"I wanted to help her." Cameron looked down at her feet, a irritated looking red rash starred back at her.

"Killing yourself isn't going to help anyone."

"She kept coming back." Foreman and Chase exchanged confused glances then turned their attention back to Cameron. "At first I thought it was just a dream but she came again when I wasn't sleeping. She wants me to help, she needs me."

"You're seeing Lily? Is she here now?" Chase looked around the room as Foreman shook his head.

"No, but House has more time now. He can figure out what killed her."

"And what if he can't?" Chase still couldn't understand her reasoning for giving herself a death sentence. "Did you think of that? Cameron, you're going to die because a hallucination..."

"Chase." Foreman interrupted as he saw the tears beginning to well up in Cameron's eyes again. "We need to get this up to the lab." The two ducklings said their goodbyes and headed out the door leaving Cameron alone again.

Tbc


	5. The Key

Let the count down begin. Actually it already began, I just forgot to put it in the last chapter, sorry. By the way, 'walk on water' was hour 1, House/Cuddy conversation was hour 2 and the blood drawing was hour 3.

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 5: The Key

_Hour 4_

Foreman and Chase sat in the lab running test after test on the newly acquired blood from Dr. Cameron. Thankfully the fever and rash were the only two symptoms that had presented thus far. All of the tests were coming back normal, no abnormalities at all were found. There was nothing to present to House. Foreman wasn't sure if it was a good sign or bad but Chase new it was bad. No new symptoms meant no new information and no new information means they were still at square one.

"You need to take it easy on her." Foreman remarked as he waited for the Epstien Barr results to come back.

"What?" Chase looked up from the microscope at the neurologist.

"Back there, telling her she is going to die. She doesn't need to hear that right now."

"Foreman, she injected herself with a disease because she feels guilty about a little girl's death and is seeing her. She's a doctor, she should know better then to listen to a hallucination. Cameron should have said something." He waved Foreman off dismissively and returned his attention back to what he was doing.

* * *

_Hour 5_

Cameron lay with her eyes closed trying to sleep but she could not find a calm center. What had she been thinking injecting herself? It was a foolish move but she had to help Lily. She hoped House could find the answer within the next forty three hours, if he didn't she would be just as dead as Lily. Sighing she opened her eyes and sat up and checked the rash on her feet, it had spreed and was now about a quarter way up her calf. It itched like crazy but Nurse Brenda had been kind enough to leave her a tube of hydrocortisone to help.

Cameron reached beside her to grab the tube off the table but what her hand landed on was warm and slimy. She drew back with a muffled scream as she looked up to see a twelve year old Lily sitting on the edge of her bed in a little white night gown. Blood and maggots oozed out of the open soars as the familiar smell or rot drifted into Cameron's nose.

"I had a bad dream." Lily said as she wiped away a tear that fell out of her eye, with it a chunk of rotted flesh exposing the bone. Cameron recoiled farther into the bed as Lily moved to sit Indian style next to her. "I dreamed that I got sick and the doctor couldn't help me and then the doctor got sick and no one could help her either." Tears started to fall out of Cameron's blue eye's as she trembled while Lily reached out a maggot infested rotted hand and stroked her hair. "Where did your hair go? It was so pretty. I wish I had hair like that." Lily then laid her head on Cameron's shoulder as she twirled her fingers through a strand of her hair, if not for the catheder she would have pissed all over herself.

"You're shaking. Are you cold?" The girl giggled as she brought the blanket around the two of them and cuddled into Cameron's side. "Don't worry, you'll forget everything else when the pain starts." Cameron felt her stomach bunch into knots as a wave of nausea washed over her, there was nothing in her stomach to through up so she painfully dry heaved as Lily patted her back comfortingly. "There, there, it'll all be over soon. You won't feel pain any more when you are like me." The girl soothed her, petting her hair as continued gag.

"Do you want me to tell you a story to help you go to sleep? Once upon a time there was a fair maiden in a far away castle. Alison was the most beautiful of all the women in the kingdom and all the men sought after her hand. Her father, the King, would only allow the most skillful knight to wed his only daughter though she was in love with the stable boy. Her father would not allow it so he locked her away in the highest tower in the castle as he held a great tournament to find the champion to marry his daughter."

Cameron began to rock back and forth as she cried, Lily's hand still smoothing her hair gently as she told the story. "One the third day of the festival Alison sat in the window of her tower watching as the contest waged on. A single tear fell from her eye as she watched her beloved Roland cross the courtyard to give a fresh stead to the gallant Sir William, the brave knight who was favored to win the tournament. As the tear fell down off of her face to the ground a fairy god mother appeared.

'Why are you crying child?' She asked as wiped away a second tear.

'Because my love and I cannot be.'

'Perhaps I could help unite you with your love.' The fairy godmother told her of a magic potion that would allow them to be together but only for two days. After two days Alison's skin would melt away and her beauty would fade, on midnight of the second day Alison would fall asleep never to wake again."

"Stop! Please stop!" Cameron cried as she buried her face in her hands crying histaricly as she tried to shake away the smell and the feel of Lily's hand on her hair. More hands came, Cameron began to scream as she fought against the hands that were forcing her down.

"Haldol!" She heard a familiar voice call in a thick Australian accent. She opened her eyes to see Chase, Foremen, and two nurses trying to calm her. Before she could speak she felt the wait of unconsciousness come upon her as the haldol took effect.

* * *

_Hour 6_

The team was sitting around the white board in the diagnostics lounge watching as House paced back and forth attempting different tricks on his yo-yo. His last try at around the world nearly cost his intensivist an eye. "We're missing something some where." He said to himself as he continued to pace. "But what."

"We know what it's not, so what are some other possibilities?" Foreman asked as he poured his third cup of coffee for the day.

"Could be bacterial." Wilson suggested as he crossed his arms.

"To fast, viral maybe?" Chase took the pencil out of his mouth and tossed it aside as he gave a glance at the white board.

"No. What about Erdheim-Chester?" Foreman threw out as he stepped over the yo-yo as House was 'walking the dog'

"Are her systems shutting down?" He asked his neurologist.

"No."

"Then it's not Erdheim-Chester. It's time to put your thinking cap on and come up with something useful." A key, there had to be a key somewhere, but what was it.

"What about the rash?" Chase asked after a moment of thought.

"What about it?"

"It starts with a rash that ascends then the rash becomes..."

"Legions." House stopped with the yo-yo and went off into his own little world. The rash, that was the key.

"The disease seems to progress with the rash as it goes from legions to necrotization." Chase continued as he stood and walked to the white board. "The symptoms get worse as it spreads and once the necrotization kicks in its only a matter of hours before death."

"So, maybe if we stop the rash we stop the progression of the disease." House looked slightly relieved as he picked up Lily's file from the table. They had treated the rash but i was resistant to all treatments, so how could they stop it? Then it clicked. "Amputation."

"What?" The other three doctor's said in unison.

"We did every treatment known to man to fix the rash on Lily, nothing stopped it. If we amputate her legs the rash won't be able to spread any farther. Then maybe we can stop this disease from killing her."

"She'll never consent to that." Wilson stated matter of factly as he put his hands on his hips.

"She won't have to." The eerie smile on House's lips suggested that he knew something that the rest of the team didn't.

Tbc.


	6. Rational Medical Decisions

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 6: Rashinal Medical Decisions

_Hour 7_

Cameron drowsily opened her eyes blinking away the film of dried tears as she looked around her room. The last thing she remembered was Chase calling for Haldol then nothing. She had only been out an hour so they must have given her a very low dose just to calm her. She shuddered as she thought of the way Lily had been petting her hair. She had to find out what killed her so she could finally rest. An atheist she may be but she knew that there had to be some kind of after life.

The tingling itch came back, sitting up she grabbed the tube of hydrocortisone, watching this time so just in case Lily decided to show up again she wouldn't touch her. A relieved sigh issued from her cracked lips as she applied a liberal amount of the cream to her rash that was now half way up between her knees and ankles. The rash spreads fast, she couldn't think of many ailments with this rapid of a progression and the ones that came to mind had already been ruled out.

At the sound of the glass door being slid open Cameron raised her gaze to see who had was coming into her room. Nurse Brenda gave her a warm smile as she stepped into the room. "I'm glad to see you up Dr. Cameron, you had us worried there for a bit."

"Hi, Brenda." Cameron greeted as the nurse took a seat next to the bed. She was glad to have someone to talk to for a little bit, especially one that didn't refer to her as an idiot all the time. "Are you on break?"

"Yeah, just thought you could use some company." Brenda was always the more helpful of all the nurses and was able to take a lot of House's crap in stride. Cameron had always been curious about how she could deal so easily with him. "How are you feeling."

"I'm alright, except for the itching, if it wasn't for this hydrocortisone I would probably already scratched the skin off my leg." The women shared a short giggle but in the back of both their minds they thought of what was to come if the head of diagnostics couldn't come up with an answer. "Do you know how the case is going?"

"I don't know much but I do know the men are working their tails off, running back and forth getting all sorts of tests. Your case is considered the hospitals top priority." Cameron smiled a weak thanks to her as she brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen over her face, she almost cried as it fell onto the bed. Nurse Brenda looked at her sympathetically as she patted her arm. "Don't worry, hun. I'm sure it'll grow back."

The women were interrupted by the door being slid open again and in limped House with a piece of paper in his hand. "Goodbye." He addressed Brenda who said a quick farewell to Cameron and left the room closing the door behind her.

"Find anything new?" Hope sprang up in her dim blue eyes as she wondered what was on the paper. Pompously House walked to the end of the bed and leaned on his cane as he began to read the paper.

"Alison Cameron has been found to be mentally incompetent to make rashinal medical decisions. Therefor it is in her best interest that any and all treatments and or procedures be authorized by Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital by care of her attending physician Dr. Gregory House." Noticing the confused look on her face House rolled before breaking it down in simple terms. "Basically the courts say you are an...idiot... and that I don't need your consent for anything."

"House, what is wrong with you? Why would you get a court order, I'm not refusing anything?" She looked close to tears as she took the paper away from House and read it herself.

"Okay, how many more times am I going to have to say this?" House rolled his eyes again, tilting his head back in frustration. "You...are...an...idiot!" Cameron glared at him from behind the paper as she shook her head.

"What are you doing?" House started taking down her IV bags and unhooking monitors as a couple nurses came in the room.

"Taking you to surgery." The casual tone made her uneasy as she looked up into his cold countenance.

"Why surgery?" She asked as she was being wheeled out of the room. "I didn't consent..." She closed her eyes as she crumpled the paper in her hand.

"Wouldn't want you to be late for your amputation."

Her eyes snapped open as what he had just said registered in her mind. "Amputation!" House gave a playful yet condescending look to one of the nurses as they headed towards the elevator to take her to the OR.

"Don't you love it when we play 'repeat everything I say in question form'?" He sighed and gave Cameron a look that was as close to sympathetic as he could get. "If we stop the rash we may stop whatever the hell this is from spreading. So what, you'll be bald and legless but at least you'll still be alive. I bet the staff will even ship in and get you one of those electric wheel chairs that says 'idiot' on the back."

* * *

_Hour 8 _

House and the team sat in his office waiting for the surgery to be over. No one approved of the procedure that was taking place, but they new it may be the only way to save her life. It had only been a short while since she had injected herself but already they felt the wait of fatigue hanging over them.

"What if it doesn't work?" Everyone looked up at Foremen as he spoke what they all were thinking. If it didn't work then they cut off her legs for nothing but if they couldn't find the answer it wouldn't matter anyway.

House mulled the question over in his head. If it still spread then that means that the rash wasn't the key or they didn't catch it in time. But at the same time it also ruled out the possibility that it travels with the rash, it was something new to go on and that was good. But this case wasn't like any other House had ever had, new didn't mean good, new meant one step closer to a painful death. "Get some rest, she should be out of surgery in about three or four hours. If it doesn't work we're in for a long ride."

* * *

_Hour 11_

The lights in the Diagnostics department was out as Dr. Cuddy rounded the corner, the only light was that coming from the computer monitor. She quietly opened the door to the office and stepped inside, the light coming in from the hall revealed the forms of four sleeping doctors. House was kicked back in his comfy yellow chair snoring quietly. Chase was sitting at the desk with his head down and Foreman and Wilson sat leaning against one another in the chairs up against the wall, Cuddy wished she had a camera to get a picture of this to use as black mail material later in.

"House." She said softly as she knelt by his chair, placing a hand on his arm. He grunted and shifted in his chair but remained asleep. "House, wake up." She spoke a little louder this time causing all four men to startle back to consciousness.

"What is it?" House groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "You usually don't appear until after I get off. You know its true what they say, Angelina likes to use knives in bed. She's all yours Chase, we know how much you love to be tortured."

Cuddy ignored him and continued on with what she had to tell them. "Cameron's out of surgery. They're taking her to recovery room one."

"How did the surgery go?" Chase wiped the sleep out of his eyes as he got up to stretch.

"She did fine, there was no complications." Cuddy was relieved to have heard that news when Dr. Burgen's head nurse had paged her.

"Did Burgen get the samples we asked for?" It Foreman had scooted over away from Wilson a little bit, slightly embarrassed that he had woke up drooling on the oncologist's shoulder.

"They are in the lab waiting for you."

"Let's hope this is all over with." Wilson sighed as he stood up placing his hands on his hips. "Otherwise more surgery is out of the question. One of the next symptoms is hypercoagualtion."

Tbc.


	7. Time Marches On

**Disclaimer: **House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot in mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 7: Time Marches On

_Hour 12_

Dr. Burgen had been instructed to give Cameron pain medication but make sure she was awake after the surgery. He had gave her the injection to bring her out of the anesthetic induced sleep and left the room. Cameron slowly opened her heavy eyes blinking several times as she moaned. She looked around the room, it was different then before, it was one of the recovery rooms. 'Why am I in a recovery room?' She thought as it suddenly dawned on her.

Gasping she looked down to see the dip in the blanket just above where her knees should have been. She began to cry as she cupped her face in her hands, panting heavily as she shook her head. House had done it, he had really cut off her legs. Albeit to save her life, but that was the furthest thing from her mind right now. Right now all that she could think of was that she would never be able to walk or stand again. When she was younger she had taken ballet lessons and was very good at it, she would never dance again.

Dropping her hands away from her face exasperatedly as she continued to cry Wilson and House walking towards the room. She dried her eyes as best she could and reached to straighten her hair, another clump falling off into her hands. Over half of her hair was gone now, so was her legs. 'House was right.' she thought, 'I am an idiot.'

"Hey." Wilson greeted warmly as he stepped through the door. "How are you feeling." Drawing the pin light out of his pocket he checked the dilation of her pupils as he placed a hand gently on top of her head. She blinked a few times at the violating light but held still so Wilson could check. As he pulled his hand back another tuft of brunette hair fell to the bed. "I..I'm sorry." He stuttered apologetically as she began to weep again.

House sighed as he looked at his wounded duckling, he'd never admit just how bad he felt for having her legs taken off but he thought it was better then letting her die. Crossing the room he pushed Wilson aside with his cane and tossed the blankets back so that he could check for the rash, luckily there were no signs of it at all. House breathed a sigh of relief but he knew that there may be a chance that this was not over yet. Covering her he looked up to see the most pained, angry, sorrowful look he had ever seen as her teary blue eyes glared into his. "You son of a bitch." She mumbled as she wiped the moisture away from her eyes.

"Would you have rather me let you die?" House leaned on his cane as he stared down at her. "You lost your legs but at least your still alive. We're busting our asses to try and save your life. You could at least show some appreciation" House kept his voice calm and even as he spoke to her. He knew that she was regretting what she had done.

"Thank you Stacy." The acid in her tone made Wilson give her a double take as House snickered.

"Just remember, you brought this one yourself." House leaned in a little closer glowering in her face as he mussed up her hair causing a handful to fall out. "All this, the hair, the legs, it was all your fault. Don't blame me for trying to fix it." With that the diagnostician strode out of the room as Wilson sat down on the edge of the bed trying to comfort her as she cried.

After a few moments her tears stopped, leaning back she glanced down once again to where her legs used to be. A tiny maggot was squirming and wiggling around, she quickly flicked it away and looked back at Wilson. "At least tell me they found something out." She pleaded with him as she dried her eyes.

"Burgen took samples during the surgery, Chase and Foreman are running tests one them now." He knew that it was unlikely that they would find something much like with Lily's autopsy but he still hoped they would.

Cameron sighed as she returned her gaze to the empty space at her knees. Another maggot was writhing around, again she flicked it away. Wilson looked at her sympathetically as he gently squeezed her arm. "They do wonders with prosthetics these days, you know."

She did not hear him, another maggot appeared and then another and another. Holding her breath she began to frantically push them away, throwing the covers to the floor she screamed as she saw the vile insects crawling all over the what was left of her legs. Wilson grabbed a hold of her, shaking her to snap her out of it as three nurses ran into the room.

"Cameron!" He shouted as she blinked at him in utter horror. "There's nothing there, you're fine." She looked back down and saw only white bandages, collapsing in his arms she began to cry once more. "Look, I'll give you a sedative so you can sleep for a while okay." She nodded as she continued to sniffle. He directed the nurse to get him some Haldol, he laid her back down gently as the the short blonde nurse put the syringe in his hand.

She screamed as a gut twisting pain shot through her as the needle touched her skin. "Stop! Please!" She cried as Wilson drew back. A look of utter defeat washed over the oncologist's face as he sat the syringe on the table.

* * *

_Hour 13_

The team sat in silence in the diagnostics lounge as Wilson told them what had happened in the room. It was what they had feared, the amputation hadn't worked, the next symptom had just presented itself. Hypersensitivity is an immune response that damages the body's own tissue causing excruciating pain. Lily was to young for morphine, they hoped it would help Cameron.

House tapped his cane on the floor as he wrote up the new symptom on the board. "Are you sure it wasn't just a reaction to being pulled out of the anesthesia so soon?" Chase asked. He hoped it was otherwise her legs had been cut off for no reason.

"I'm sure." Wilson sighed as he leaned his head back staring up at the ceiling.

"It's still possible that this is a bad case of vulgaris." Foreman leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees as he ran his hands over the back of his head.

"The test was negative." Chase pointed out. He knew the neurologist was grasping for straws at this point but they were useless straws.

"We can do the test again." Foreman sighed as he shot a glare towards the Australian.

"It's pointless to test for something we know it's not, Foreman." Chase returned the glare as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Do it anyway." House didn't take his eyes off the bored as he spoke. "Rerun the tests for cellulitus and pemphigus while you're at it."

Wilson looked at his friend as the other two scurried out of the room to run the tests. "You've ran those tests three times now."

"Keeps them busy." House said as he turned to face Wilson with a look on his face that was a cross between nervous and defeated.

"What is it?" He knew that that wasn't a good look and it must have been why he ordered the tests.

"The amputation..." House's voice trailed off as he looked away. "I have a feeling the rash will be coming back, it's next stage is legions, then necrotization."

"And...?" Wilson gestured for him to elaborate, he wasn't getting what House's point was.

"Now there is less flesh to be eaten. When the necrotizing starts, it will begin at her thigh. I think we may have lost her a few hours." The doctors both exchanged worried glances as they stared up at the clock.

Tbc.


	8. Lab Rat

**Disclaimer:** House Md is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot is mine

**Haunted**

Chapter 8: Lab Rat

_Hour 14_

Chase and Foreman sat in the lab waiting for the test results to come back, they knew it would be negative but it was worse to sit around and do nothing while their friend died then to suffer through a pointless test. It was going on eleven pm so most of the lab techs had already gone home so their was no one around waiting to use the stations.

"Do you realize how pointless this is?" Chase through his hands up in exasperation as he leaned back from peering into the microscope. He still couldn't understand why House was sending them to retest. "Cameron, Lily, and her dad all tested negative for vulgaris, pemphigus, and cellulitus."

"Can't you ever view the glass as half full?" Foreman shrugged him off and continued looking at the slid with a sample of Cameron's blood on it. "Maybe we missed it before."

"Or maybe it's not there at all." Chase rolled his eyes at the neurologist and went to check the latest O2 count to see if that was still stable, thankfully it was, the last thing they needed right now was for her lungs to collapse.

Foreman sighed, giving up his search of her blood for clues to check the Epstien Barr results. "Probably not. House is just reaching for straws right now, I don't think he has a clue."

"It's impolite to talk about someone behind their back when that someone is standing behind your back." Both Foreman and Chase turned to see a smirking House leaning in the doorway. "Hey kids, did you have fun playing with the grown up toys?"

"The tests are still negative." Foreman turned to face his boss holding out a sheet with the results of the Epstien Barr, House stared at it as if it were going to do some sort of trick.

"Start her on plasmapheresis." Both doctors looked at him dumbly for a moment, rolling his eyes he lifted his sleeve to look at his watch. "Go ahead, take your time. I'm sure Cameron won't mind."

"House, we said the test for vulgaris was negative." Chase protested. "Why treat her..."

"Because treatment is quicker, their maybe something hindering the test results..."

"If there was something there we would have seen it. House, a normal..." Foreman interrupted causing a glare from the diagnostician.

"When you're at the fourth and ten at the twenty yard line down by six you don't try fancy maneuvers, you charge straight down the middle." Popping open his bottle of vicodin he dumped the remaining two white pills in his hand and dry swallowed them. "There is nothing normal about this case. Start the treatment. If it doesn't work we'll try another one." House turned and limped out the door clutching his empty pill bottle on his left hand as Wilson walked by the lab. "Hey Wilson!" He shouted, causing the oncologist as well as everyone else in earshot to jump. "Do you got any drugs?"

* * *

_Hour 15_

Cameron lay half asleep as Foreman, Chase and a few nurses were setting up the plasmapheresis machine in her room. The morphine only slightly took the edge off the pain caused by the hypersensitivity and the treatment wasn't working at all. She was trying to ready herself for the pain that was about to be upon her when it was time to hook her to the machine, but she was finding it hard not to weep. She was surprised that House wasn't in here poking her with a stick.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" Nurse Brenda asked with a sympathetic look but didn't touch her because she knew it would cause Cameron a lot of pain. She had signed up for a double shift so that she could stay and help Dr. Cameron.

"I'm okay." Cameron sniffed back a tear as she spoke in a trembling, tired voice. The machine was set up, it was now time to insert the IV's. One IV was to draw the blood into the machine where the plasma was separated out then the blood is mixed with Albumin and returned through the other IV.

"Are you ready?" Chase asked as he held one of the tubes in his hand on her left side while Foreman had the other on her right. Another tear fell as she nodded her head, two nurses moved in to strap down her arms before and help hold them down while Nurse Brenda went to the head of the bed and inserted a tongue guard so she wouldn't bite her tongue because of the pain.

The entire room took a deep breath as Foreman and Chase pressed the needles into her skin. Cameron screamed out in agony as white hot pain seared through her body, tears began to fall from her eyes in torrents as she clenched down on the tongue guard. Both Foreman and Chase took a step back signaling that they were finished, the nurses to abandoned their station to return to their rounds.

Cameron trembled, her stomach churning from the pain as the room swam before her bloodshot eyes. Chase placed a hand gently on her shoulder as he undid her bindings. "Are you okay?" With one final somersault the contents of her stomach was emptied onto Chase's face and chest. Resisting the urge to gag, Chase wiped it out of his face as she tried to apologies. "It's okay, just try and relax."

"Chase." Foreman got the intensivists attention and pointed towards the blood that was coming out of one of the tubes. "Look how thick it is."

"Hypercoagulation." Chase sighed as he watched it slowly tread up the tube. Turning his attention back to the weeping woman he gently pulled the covers back to take a look at her thighs to check for the rash. They had suspected it would return soon, and it had. There it was plain as day about three fourths up her thigh, within the next hour or so it should reach her waist. It was only a matter of time before the legions came into play.

* * *

_Hour 16_

The hot water that was falling over Chase was refreshing. Steam flowing into his nostrils, he sighed heavily hoping this was all just a bad dream and he would wake up and everything would be back to normal. But he knew it wasn't a dream and he knew he wasn't going to wake up.

"How far has the rash spread." House called over the sound of the shower running while he sat on the bench twirling his cane. Wilson sat beside him with his arms folded and eyes closed with his head leaned against the wall mulling possibilities over in his head but nothing that could help.

"It's just below her waist." Chase called over the rush of water as he washed the vomit out of his hair.

"Did you steal a look at naughty parts?" House asked in a serious tone, receiving a glare from Wilson. "Our little boy is growing up!"

"Well, you get to have 'The Talk' with him then." Wilson leaned his head back again as the water shut off and an arm reached out to grab a towel.

Chase stepped out dripping wet with a white towel wrapped around his waist. Both the oncologist and diagnostician found themselves staring at his firm muscled abdomen. "What?"

House opened his mouth to give him a smart assed come back but was interrupted by Cuddy who came waltzing into the men's locker room pausing only slightly to look at the nearly nude wombat. "How is she?"

"The rash is back and she got the next symptom, hypercoagulation." Chase answered as he stood uncomfortably in just a towel.

"I spoke to Foreman, he said the plasmapheresis isn't having an effect so far." Her hand rested on the waist of her navy blue slacks, she looked tired but they knew that she wouldn't be getting any rest until this situation was resolved.

"We'll leave her on it a little more then we'll try something else." House made it a point to stare down her white top as he stood up leaning heavily on his cane.

"House, she's not a lab rat you can't experiment on her!" She threw her arms up in disbelief as she looked at Wilson for help.

"She's the one who made herself a lab rat, not me." House sighed and gave a mischievous smile to the Dean of Medicine. "I understand you're upset, but I've got something that will cheer you right up."

Cuddy's jaw hit the floor as House ripped the towel of Chase's waist leaving him completely naked, his whole body flushing bright red in embarrassment. "House!" He reached to try and get his stolen towel back as he covered himself with his free hand. Cuddy rolled her eyes hiding a smile behind her hand as she walked out of the locker room.

Tbc


	9. Caffeine

**Disclaimer: **House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 9: Caffeine

_Hour 17_

The past seventeen hours had taken quite a toll on the diagnostics department. Foreman fought back a a yawn as the youngest duckling kept glaring at Dr. House. He had the sneaking suspicion that he missed something but he was pretty sure that what ever it was he didn't want to know. They were sitting around the glass table waiting for Wilson to return with the latest news about their patient. As if on cue Wilson came strolling around the corner and into House's office.

"No change." Sighing as he put a hand to his weary brown eyes Wilson pulled out the chair next to Foreman and sat down. "She is resting right now, a little sleep may do her some good. A little sleep may do us all some good for that matter."

"How long are we going to keep her on that machine?" Chase asked as he glanced up at the clock. He had on a pair of soft blue scrubs after his little encounter with Cameron, it had felt rather nice to shed his other outfit after being in it for sixteen hours.

"Another hour or so. Next we'll try treatment for Legionnaire's." House was thumping his cane loudly on the floor while sipping on a fresh cup of coffee, he hoped the caffeine would help see him through the end of this case because there was no chance that he was going to go home and sleep while a member of his staff was dying. It was a puzzle this disease, the desire to find the answer burnt strong with in him but the need to save Cameron's life was stronger, sure she was an idiot for doing this to herself but she didn't deserve to die.

"House, the CBC only showed a slight elevation her white count and her Erythrocyte sedimentation rate is normal." Chase countered as he brushed back a few strands of slightly damp hair.

"Her arterial blood gas analysis did reveal a low concentration of oxygen though." Foreman considered the possibility but there was little hope of it being the answer. In all his time as a doctor he had never seen anything quite like this before and he hoped that he would never see it again.

"Never mind Chase." House told his neurologist as he pulled himself up with his cane to get a fresh cup of coffee. "After all he is a natural blonde."

"House!" Chase whined as Wilson began to crack up as Foreman gave the three men a confused look.

"We'll give her the full cocktail, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and gatifloxican. Hell, might as well throw in Larry, Curley, and Moe while we're at it."

* * *

_Hour 18_

It was near impossible for Cameron to sleep. The morphine managed to take the edge off but she still felt the sharp pain of every little move she made causing the IV needles to move about inside her. She wanted to look and see how far the rash had progressed but she could not bring herself to sit up and check. Judging by the fierce itching it was a little above her waist. The itching was the least of her concerns right now, right now all she wanted was some sleep. Just as she cleared her mind and felt as if she could drift off to sleep an eerily familiar giggle echoed in her ears.

Snapping her eyes open she saw Lily's maggot infested facade at the end of her bed. With each twirl of her pink floral dress a wave of nausea came over Cameron as the odorous sent crashed through her. "I'm going to the school dance tonight." She giggled again as she mimicked a slow dance with herself. "Do you think the boys will want to dance with me?" Lily appeared to be about fifteen years of age now, if it weren't for the fact that she was a mass of greenish muscle tissue and slimy insects she would be a very beautiful young woman.

Cameron began to cry as Lily waltzed while humming it out loud. "Can you show me how to do ballet? I've always wanted to try it." When Cameron was younger she had won several awards for her skill in ballet and was even offered a full scholarship to Juilliard but turned it down to go to medical school. Now she lay in a hospital bed hairless and legless with a bed girl dancing around her room. It was more then she could take, she began to weep uncontrollably. The movement as her body trembled with tears also sent shards of sheer agony through her, several nurses rushed into the room as Cameron screamed out in pain but they couldn't hear the tiny giggle as Lily faded away once more.

* * *

_Hour 19_

House sighed as he glanced up at his clock for the fifth time in less then an hour. On the plus side he had managed to master the Confederate Flag and the Eiffel Tower on his yo yo. A small knock came to the glass door as Wilson leaned his head in. "I just talked to the nurses, they had to up her morphine a little."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." House again pulled of a stunning Eiffel Tower before returning it to his desk and pulling out his Nintendo DS. "Do you have any batteries?"

"What do you mean?" Wilson stepped the rest of the way into the room and leaned against House's desk.

"The batteries died when I got to level six." He tossed the old ones in the trash and held his hand out to Wilson awaiting a fresh set of his beloved batteries.

"No, I meant what did you mean by the road to hell is paved with good intentions?" The oncologist rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest as House mimicked him.

"Any change yet?" He asked instead of answering Wilson's question.

"No. Do you think its time to start her on the next treatment?"

"Tell the kids to take her off the plasmapherisis and give her the treatment for Legionnaire's." Wilson got up and walked towards the door, he stopped and turned around as House called his name. "Tell them to give her azithromycin, clarithromycin and erythromycin as well."

OoOoOoOo

Cameron breathed a sigh of relief as the last of the plasmapherisis machine was wheeled out the door. Glancing up she saw Chase hanging new IV bags but she couldn't read the labels. "What are they?" She asked in a groggy weak voice.

"We're treating you for Legionnaire's. House ordered the both treatments, guinolos and macrolides." Chase replied as he hooked the new treatments into her IV.

"Thats a lot of antibiotics."

"We need to cover all of our bases. We can't hold anything back with this Cameron." Chase gave her a sympathetic look with his tired blue green eyes. "You haven't had any visitors. Is there anyone you want me to call to come sit with you?"

"No. They'll only be a distraction for House. I'm fine."

"Let me check on your rash and then I'll be out of here so you can get some sleep, okay?" She nodded, grimacing as a spike of pain shot through her with the movement. He pulled the covers back half way before glancing back up at Cameron.

"What? What is it?" She couldn't read his face but she new something was not right.

Tbc


	10. Hide and Go Seek

Hey everyone! Sorry this post was a little later then normal. I know my grammar and spelling isn't the greatest in the world but take into consideration that were I'm from you could probably count the average IQ on one hand after a cannery accident. But I am trying so please forgive my grammatical errors.

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 10: Hide and Go Seek

_Hour 20_

"How far has it spread?" House was pacing back and forth in front of the white board partly because of the pain in his leg and partly because of his growing fear that they wouldn't be able to save Cameron in time.

"The rash is just a few inches below her chest." Chase let out a weary sigh before continuing. "The lesions are about a quarter way up her thigh." When he had pulled the covers back to check the rash he saw them, large pusstuous soars growing up her thighs. This disease seemed to have three stages the first being the rash, lesions second, and necrotizing being the final stage before death. She was now in the second stage and time did not seem to be on their side.

"We could biopsy the lesions." Foreman suggested after a moment of thought. "Maybe we can find something there."

"The biopsy of Lily's lesions revealed nothing." Wilson knew that they needed to find the answer to this and fast but between Lily, Mr. Gale, and Cameron they had ran nearly all the tests they could think of.

"I've already done it, they're looking at in in the lab as we speak." Chase had biopsied them immediately. He regretted having to do it, the pain of the biopsy had nearly caused Cameron to faint. This disease seemed to make her impervious to most medications. Chase had started to wonder that even if they did figure it out would a treatment really work?

"So what now?" Wilson asked as he glanced up at the clock again. The way he figured it she only had twenty hours left since they had amputated her legs.

"We leave her on the Legionnaire's treatment a little while longer then we'll try something else." Cuddy had remained silent as she listened to the team discuss the case but she did not like the idea of how House was just trying treatment after treatment with no medical facts to back him up.

"House, you are not putting her through needless and expensive treatments." She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a stern administrative glare to let him know how serious she was.

"Expensive?" House chuckled lightly to himself as he aimed his attention towards the Dean of Medicine who was leaned against the door frame. "You know what the number one enemy to doctors is?" Cuddy rolled her eyes and shook her head 'no'. She knew that House would answer the question on his own. "Bureaucracy."

"How do you figure that Dr. House?" She didn't like being accused of being a bureaucrat, she was just trying to do her job.

"As a doctor you are charged with the care of your patient. Their lives are in your hands. What do you tell a person who is dying? 'I'm sorry we can't treat you. It's to expensive.'" House crossed the room so that he was standing right in front of Cuddy leaning on his cane as he looked her square in the eye. "They say that you can't put a price on human life. But we have. How much is Cameron's life worth?"

Cuddy was taken aback. She stood with her mouth open for a moment but no words would come out. Taking a deep breath she calmed herself and looked back at the diagnostician. "Do the damn treatments." With that she turned and left the room to hide the tears that had sprang up in her eyes.

* * *

_Hour 21_

The lab was still quiet. A few technicians had began to show up to begin their shifts for the day. The sun had barely risen over the horizon yet the staff was all bustling working on Cameron's case. Chase and Foreman were in the lab going over the latest test results and doing a few new ones as they ate some breakfast. They were not hungry but they knew that they needed to eat something to keep themselves going because sleep would not be an option anytime soon.

The latest blood cultures were all the same and the biopsy of the lesions revealed nothing. It was like this disease was hiding from them in a sort of twisted hide and go seek game. And whatever it was it wasn't just going to give up. In their own way they were playing a game as well, pin the diagnosis on the patient.

It was painful to sit by and watch their colleague suffer in such a way and they knew it was only going to get worse. The pain alone when the necrotizing starts would be unbearable, they would have to put her in a chemically induced coma to get her through the pain. The only question was if they out her under, will they be able to wake her again?

* * *

_Hour 22_

House leaned against the nurses station outside Cameron's room. She had finally managed to drift into a restless sleep. House knew that there had to be something that he was missing. Something that they had over looked. They had ran all of the tests for all of the disease even remotely similar and still came up with nothing. Or had they?

He hadn't thought of it before because the symptoms didn't quite match up but these symptoms didn't quite match up with anything. It was possible. He stuck out his cane as a nurse walked by nearly causing her to trip.

"Hey!" She started but he cut her off.

"Page doctors Chase, Foreman, and Wilson."

OoOoOoOo

As their pagers went off they immediately headed for the diagnostics lounge were they found House tossing his red and gray ball off the wall. "What is it?" Foreman asked as he was the first one through the door.

"Take her off the Legionnaire's treatment and start her on dapsone, rifampin, clofazimine, and ethionmide." House directed without looking at the trio of doctors that was staring at him dumbfounded. Wilson was the first to speak."

"Leprosy? You want us to treat her for Leprosy?" He pinched his nose with his fingers as he tilted his head down. "House, the symptoms don't match."

"We haven't even tested for it." Chase and Foreman almost chimed in unison as they exchanged an unsure glance.

"Then run a FITE stain after you start treatment." House ordered giving his signature glare and smirk as he leaned on his cane.

"But House..."

Wilson was cut off by House's cane as it met his shin. "Treatment is quicker. Now go do it." The doctors left the room, Wilson limping as they headed off to try out House's latest theory.


	11. Itsy Bitsy Spider

**Disclaimer: **House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 11: Itsy Bitsy Spider

_Hour 23_

There are several differences between dreams and hallucinations. A dream is a series of mental images and emotions during sleep where as a hallucination is a sensory experience in which a person can see, hear, smell, taste, or feel something that isn't there. Which begs the question which is worse a hallucination or a dream?

Cameron found herself walking down a large corridor with metal doors on either side, her bare feet chilled on the cold linoleum with every step she took. The air around her was moist and heavy it clung to her skin like dew to a morning flower. There was no end in sight, trudging onward she tried to open a door but it was locked so she tried another and another, all locked, every door was locked. She could feel the slight tug of panic pulling at her gut as she tried door after door until she finally fell to the floor weeping in exasperation.

Her sobs echoed through out the hallway. Cameron quieted herself as another cry was heard. This cry was one of a baby. She quickly rose to her feet and ran down the hall but the echo made it impossible to tell where the screams were coming from. On and on she ran checking door after door, none would open for her. Tears were streaming down her face as another and another cry was heard. So many babies were crying that the echo was almost deafening.

Cameron ran for what seemed like an eternity until one door finally opened for her. As she felt the handle turn beneath her hand the screams became louder. Swinging the door wide so that it thumped against the wall of the room she saw Lily standing in the center of the room holding an infant in her arms. There were several cradles around her each containing a screaming babe as Cameron stepped closer she could see rashes and lesions on each one growing at incredible speeds.

Her eyes went to Lily as she shushed the little one in her arms. She was wearing yellow scrubs and a hair net with a mask dangling from the exposed sinews of her neck. She leaned down and placed a small kiss atop the the babies head leaving a maggot to crawl all over the child's face. Shrill cries were heard from all of the cribs. Cameron could see the flesh being eaten off their tiny bodies. She cried out in frustration as she stepped the rest of the way into the room.

"Why are you doing this!" She shouted at Lily who was humming itsy bitsy spider as she rocked the infant. "Please, they are just babies!" She tried to plead with Lily who now looked as if she were eighteen.

"The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout." She singed merely as she walked her fingers up the babies stomach and gently tapped its nose. "Down cam the rain and washed the spider out." Running her hand back down she gave it a playful tickle. "Up came the sun and dried up all he rain." Again her fingers walked up the little ones stomach, the necrotizing just at its heels. "And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again." All the babies erupted in the most horrifying scream as the necrotization went over their faces and maggots began to emerge from the open soars.

Cameron let out a blood curdling scream as she fell to her knees. Her body trembling with every sob. Pain began to shoot through her with each heave of her chest it was all she could do to keep from screaming out again.

"Cameron?" A soft voice made her eyes pop open, cold sweat dripping from each pore. "You were having a nightmare." Came the voice again, she recognized the voice it had a thick Australian accent.

"Chase?" She whispered as the room came into focus. Chase was leaning over her shinning a light in her eyes. Once he turned off the light she could see Foreman readying to draw blood. "What's going on?"

"House thinks it might be Leprosy." Foreman said with a lack of belief in his voice. "A resistant form probably a mutated strain of the lepromatous form."

"We are starting the treatment and we're going to run a FITE stain." Chase finished as he hung the IV bags on the stand. "Are you ready?" He asked as he looked at Foreman with syringe in hand. Several nurses had gathered in the room awaiting the doctors signal to restrain her.

Taking a deep breath she nodded and closed her eyes tight. She felt the straps go around her wrists and a tongue guard being slipped into her mouth. One more deep breath as the tourniquet tightened over her arm, the pain already beginning to set in. "Here we go." Foreman slipped the needle into her skin, she clamped down on the tongue guard as a wave of pain and anguish crashed into her.

* * *

_Hour 24_

Twenty four hours. Twenty four hours had passed since the infection began, Twenty four hours that had felt longer then eternity and yet not long enough by far. The team remained quiet as they waited for the results of the FITE stain to pop up on screen. Painfully quiet. So much so that when the phone rang all three men nearly jumped out of their seats.

Wilson was the first to recover and grabbed the phone. "Wilson." Chase and Foreman watched as he rolled his eyes annoyed by whatever was on the other end. They both looked at him questioningly as he hung up the phone.

"I know your mother taught you better then that Jimmy." House chastised the oncologist as he opened the door and strolled into the room.

"And I'm sure your mother didn't." Wilson countered as he folded his arms. "and no I don't have Prince Albert in a can."

"You're no fun." House rolled his eyes and limped over to where an open chair was and took a seat. "Results in yet?"

"No." Foreman started just as the computer beeped informing them the the test was complete. The entire room held their breath as they looked at the screen.

"Negative for tuberculoid and lepromatous." They all let out their collective breathes in a heavy sigh. "Negitive for Mycobacterium Leprae. It's not Leprosy."

"Blood work is still the same, no change." Foreman was looking over the printout of the latest blood work they had put through along with the FITE stain. "Wait, whats this? He looked over the paper again before glancing up at the rest of the team.

"Well, what is it?" House asked after he didn't say anything for a moment.

"Her O2 stats, they've nearly doubled in the last hour."

* * *

_Hour 25_

"We've got her on a respirator, thats all we can do for now." Foreman sat back against the wall with a sigh. "So far no change. We should take her off the Leprosy treatment and try something else."

"What about MDR Staph A?" Chase asked from behind a pencil in his mouth. "We haven't tested for that."

"Multiple Drug Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, I like it." House mulled it over in his head for a couple minute.

"It would explain why the drugs we've been giving her isn't working." Wilson said as he poured another up of coffee. It had been a long day and it was only going to get longer.

"Some of the symptoms don't match though." Foreman began to protest but quieted after receiving a glare from House.

"Start her on the glycopetides." House ordered. "How are the O2 stats?"

"Still rising." Foreman shook his head as he opened the door. "If they don't come down soon, her lungs will collapse."


	12. Just Breathe

Hey everyone, back for another round I see. Keep in mind that I am not a doctor so if my medical is a bit off just play along.

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV, only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 12: Just Breathe

_Hour 26_

She lay quietly, afraid to go back to sleep. She didn't want to see that again, she didn't want to see all those babies die again. Cameron had never had a child of her own but she wanted to have one. Nothing in the world compares to holding your child in your arms for the first time. A family was out of the question when she married. Her husband was dying of cancer.

She smiled as she remembered her wedding day, everything had been perfect. The flowers, the cake, the dress, everything. The dress, it was the most beautiful gown Cameron had ever laid her eyes on. The base embroidered with flowers lined with small pearls, the back laced up with silk ribbon. It was way out of her price range but he insisted that she get it anyway. Smiling, Cameron let her mind wrap around the memory. She could almost hear the wedding march being played as she walked down the aisle. She could smell the sweet scent of the many flowers gathered in the chapel, Cameron inhaled deeply letting the sent cascade into her nostrils.

The scent of beautiful flowers vanished and was replaced by the smell of death and rotting flesh. Cameron coughed hoarsely waves of pain shocking through her with each heave of her chest. Opening her eyes she saw Lily standing at the foot of her bed. Cameron almost cried as she saw her wedding dress on the decomposing corpse. Lily even held the exact bouquet of white and yellow roses and a white rose tucked into her hair.

Cameron cringed as Lily ran her bony fingers over the embroidered flowers as she hummed the wedding march. "Do you like my dress?" She asked as she gave a little spin to show it off. "It was really expensive but John said that he wanted his princess to look like a princess on her wedding day." Cameron wanted to cry and scream at her, those had been the words he said to her. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came. She could feel her chest tightening, gasping she brought her hand to her chest.

Doctors Chase, Foreman, and Wilson ran into the room as monitors beeped wildly sending their shrill cries out into the silent hallways of PPTH. "Get the cart ready!" Chase ordered as he pulled the pillow out from underneath Cameron's head. "We need to intubate." Just as he said it the device was put into his hand. Quickly going to work as he noticed her lips we're beginning to turn cynotic. As he began to insert it through her mouth another shrill scream of a monitor pierced the air.

"Her lung's collapsed!" Foreman called out as Chase dropped the intubation kit and grabbed a syringe off the cart and jammed it through her chest. The room fell silent, Wilson turning down the monitors. All could hear the air whistling through the syringe as it escaped her pleural cavity.

Everyone in the room focused their attention on the intensivist. "Schedule an OR." He said in a low tone. "She needs a chest tube."

* * *

_Hour 27_

House sat at his desk with his head resting on his cane. Chase and Foreman were observing the chest tube being put in which left Wilson alone with House. He sat opposite of the head of Diagnostics flipping through the whole of Cameron's tests results since it all began. He couldn't help but feel helpless, none of this added up. Never in his years as a doctor had he ever seen anything remotely similar to this. How can you treat something if you don't know what it is?

Twenty seven hours. Twenty seven hours and they still haven't learned anything new about this disease at all. Poor little Lily Gale had only lasted twenty four hours and her father, Alex had lasted forty eight. Cameron would fall somewhere between them because of the amputation they thought would save her life she had lost some time. There was less skin now for the lesions to cover and less skin to be eaten away. Wilson figured she wouldn't last more then thirty eight to forty hours.

"Have you started the glycopetides yet?" House's voice penetrated Wilson's thoughts.

The oncologist shook his head. "No, we were going to when the pneumothorax happened. We'll get her started on it just as soon as the chest tube is in." They had been heading to her room with the new treatment when they heard the monitors going off.

"Get an MRI first." House leaned back in his chair twirling his cane as he slouched down slightly. "The start the glycopetides."

"I don't know if an MRI is a good idea with a..." Wilson was interrupted by House who gave him that ice cold glare that said shut up.

"If we had time to let her recover from the chest tube we'd give it to her but unfortunately for us she is an idiot and only gave us a small window to figure out what is wring with her." Using the hook of his cane he knocked the ball off of his desk letting it bounce before he caught it with his cane and dropped it again.

"Are you sure calling her an idiot is a good thing to be doing right now?" Wilson asked as he stared down his friend. It was unanimous, what Cameron had done topped all idiot lists but it didn't change the fact that she had done it and now they needed to fix it.

"When is anything I do a good thing?" House retorted without taking his eyes off the game he was playing.

"House, she's dying and you're tormenting her!" Wilson gave a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't you think you should lay off the idiot thing?"

"When a patient of yours dies do you give yourself cancer to martyr yourself out for a cure?" He tossed the ball high enough so that he could catch it and put it back onto his desk before folding his arms in his lap and staring at a weary oncologist.

"No." Wilson replied as he felt the weight of House's gaze coming down on him. There was some thing about being stared down by House's crystal blue eyes that sent a shiver up one's spine.

"No, you send flowers to the funeral or you write a nice letter to the family because that is the smart thing to do. Injecting yourself with a deadly disease makes you an idiot." House was satisfied that he made his point as he saw the defeated look on Wilson's face.

"Will you at least stop calling her that to her face?" The oncologist pleaded after a moment.

"I haven't called her an idiot to her face in hours." House leaned on his cane pulling himself into a standing position and walked to the door. "Stop being such a cry baby or I'll start calling you a wuss."

* * *

_Hour 28_

The chest tube had been inserted with out a problem. Just as the doctor had finished they wheeled Cameron into the MRI room. She was still under sedation so the results of the MRI would be clean. Foreman and Chase sat in the monitoring room and watched the screen as images of Cameron's brain began to appear.

"How long do you think she has before the necrotizing starts?" Chase asked in a reserved tone as he picked at a loose thread on his scrubs. He felt the weight of defeat hanging over him as he stared at his colleague, his friend, in the MRI machine. He did consider her a friend, though they didn't have the greatest relationship he still had become close to her since they worked together.

"I don't know." Foreman's voice was tired and gruff, he paused to clear his throat before continuing. "I hope we figure something out before that happens." Foreman too considered her a friend. Yes they had had their moments when they wanted to kill each other but a friend none the less. He hated seeing her like this.

"The lesions are halfway up her midsection now, the rash is up to her face. I don't think it will be much longer at all." They sat silently for a moment. Occupying their minds with anything they could think of so not to focus on the thought of the pain Cameron would have to endure once her skin starts being eaten away.

Several minutes later Foreman broke the silence. "Do you think House will find the answer in time?" He asked as he looked into his Aussie counterpart's blue green eyes.

"Of coarse he will. He's House." Chase said in a reassuring tone. He had worked with House the longest and seen him do some amazing things. Chase may have lost a lot of faith after leaving the seminary but the one thing that he had more faith in then anything else was House's abilities. "I'm suer he can find the answer." He said with finality in his voice.


	13. What Happens in Angola Stays in Angola

**Disclaimer: **House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 13: What Happens in Angola Stays in Angola

_Hour 29_

Them hum of the florescent light was the only noise in the room as Dr. House flicked on the switch to view th results of the MRI. Four tired doctors gathered around the light board hoping for the smallest of hints that could unlock this mystery. "What do we see?" House posed the question but already knew the answer as he stared at the pictures of Cameron's brain.

Chase stared at it for a moment before reluctantly speaking up. "Parabronchial thickening."

"Enlarged hilar lymph nodes." Foreman said with a sigh as he crossed his arms..

"Purile effasions." Wilson finished out the new symptoms lowering his head so that he was looking at his shoes and not at the board.

"Parabronchial thickening, enlarged hilar lymph nodes, and purile effasions." House repeated what his team and best friend had said as he gave the results on final look over before limping over to his desk and sitting down and taking out his yo yo. "Any new and shiney ideas would be helpful."

"Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome ." Foreman suggested when nothing else came to mind.

"No, HPS would only account for the fever and O2 stats and none of her other symptoms." Wilson said but could come up with nothing better himself.

"Ebola?" Chase suggested after a moments thought. "It doesn't account for all of her symptoms but it nothing accounts for all of them."

"Marburg." The trio of doctors sitting around House's desk looked up at the older diagnostician and waited for an explanation. "Remember a little epidemic that was going on in Angola last year?"

"Yeah, a Marburg outbreak." Wilson spoke up. "It was the worst outbreak of any hemorrhagic fever." He remembered reading about it last spring. It had received quite a bit of press.

Chase grabbed the folder of House's desk and flipped it open to view the history. "It says that Mr. Gale was in the Peace Corps. He spent six months in Angola last year."

"He could have contracted the virus there and brought it back and gave it to Lily." Foreman beamed as he took the file away from Chase.

"Forget the MDR treatment get her started on vasopressers stat." House ordered but they were already heading out the door.

* * *

_Hour 30_

Cameron was still unconscious from the sedatives. They thought it best to let her be out of it for a while so that she wouldn't be in pain. Nurse Brenda had returned to the hospital for her next shift an hour early and was sitting with her when Chase and Foreman came into the room. "Good afternoon, doctors." She greeted warmly giving them a bright smile.

"Hi, Brenda." Foreman nodded to her as he began to treat Cameron with the vasopressers.

"How are you?" Chase asked while giving Foreman a hand. They knew that Brenda was one of Cameron's few visitors. Actually she was her only visitor besides the people treating her. She didn't want her family contacted.

"I'm just fine." She gave them another warm smile then turned her face serious as she looked down at the immunologist lying in the bed. "How is the case coming along?" She asked in a bit of a worried tone.

"Its been bumpy but we think that this latest treatment might be the one." Foreman told her in a reassuring tone as he finished his preparations.

"Marburg virus." Chase stated as he checked the status of the lesions. He pulled back her gown and saw that they were now covering her chest. Brenda gave a slight grimace at the sight as Chase continued. "We think Mr. Gale might have brought it back from Angola. We'll know in a couple hours if treatment is working or not."

"Dr. House thinks this is promising?" She asked the younger doctor who was now covering Cameron back up and pulling the sheet up around her almost tucking her in like you would a child when you put her to bed.

"He thinks so." Chase put a hand on her arm to reassure her before drawing several tubes of blood. He figured he might as well get more blood while she was sleeping so that it wouldn't cause her pain when she came out of sedation.

"He really is a brilliant man. I just wish he'd be a little less of an ass sometimes." The two doctors and nurse Brenda shared a laugh at this as they put the finishing touches on vasopressers.

"I think we'd all agree with that statement." Foreman shook his head as he checked all the monitors making sure her stats were where they should be.

"Oh come on guys. He's not that bad." Chase defended his boss. Yeah he could be quite an ass but he always got the job done even if it meant trouble for him and the team.

"You always cease to amaze me Chase." Foreman laughed again this time at the confused look on Chase's face as he stared at the neurologist questioningly.

"What?" He said, his voice squeaking lightly as his accent thickened. Brenda just sat back and watched. She always thought it to be quite funny when the ducklings, as they had come to be called, bickered.

"No matter what he does you always think he walks on water." Even with the Vogler incident Chase had still defended House's actions.

"No, Cameron thinks he walks on water. I think that he's a damn good doctor even though his tactics are a bit unorthodox at times." Chase had just finished his explanation when he heard the familiar thump of a cane behind him. Turning around he saw Dr. House with a smirk on his face and Wilson behind him walking into the room nodding a greeting to Brenda.

"What have I told you kids about talking about people behind their backs?" Both Foreman and Chase lowered their heads and walked out the door with House behind them as they headed off to the lab. Brenda left as well. She had to start her rounds.

* * *

_Hour 31_

Wilson stayed to sit with her for a few moments. The sedatives would be wearing off soon and he didn't want her to wake up alone. He felt his eyelids beginning to droop after sitting for only a minute. He tried to brush off the feeling but with every blink it became harder and harder to open his eyes. One the seventh blink they didn't open.

"Dr. Wilson?" Wilson jumped to attention at the sound of the voice. Cameron was still asleep so it wasn't her. He turned his head as he felt a hand on his arm. Cuddy was standing next to him with a sympathetic look in her eye as he rubbed his face.

"Sorry, I must have fallen asleep." He said as he stood up and paced a few times hoping that would wake him up a little.

"It's alright. This is a hard case and you've been up for over twenty four hours." Cuddy reassured the drowsy oncologist. "Any changes?" Wilson proceeded to tell her their theory about Marburg and the father bringing it back from Angola. "Do you think it will work?"

"We'll know in a couple hours." Wilson said. He was afraid to sit back down so instead he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"She may not have that much time if you're wrong."

"Funny thing, time." Wilson pushed himself off the wall and walked towards the door. He knew he needed to find something to do or he would fall asleep again. "Its every where yet we never seem to have enough of it."


	14. Silent Night

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 14: Silent Night

_Hour 32_

The latest blood work revealed no change in her condition which could be considered both good and bad. It was good because she wasn't getting any worse but it was bad because there was nothing new to work with. New symptoms were always a good thing. That was one lesson he had always stressed to his team, new is good even if it is bad.

Going by the same theory it was bad that Cameron had no change with this new treatment. The team hoped it was just taking longer because of how far advanced the condition was. They couldn't know for sure if it was in fact the Marburg virus until the test came back but that wouldn't be for several hours. For now the best coarse of action would be to leave her on the treatment and hope for the best while looking for more answers.

To answer something you must understand its meaning. Whatever the meaning of this disease it alluded Dr. House. No amount of General Hospital, Game Boy, or yo yo could make him understand this or why Cameron had done this to herself knowing full well the consequences of her actions. 'If only the great Dr. Sebastian was here they could be martyrs together.' House thought with a scoff. This case reminded him of Dr. Sebastian Charles. He had refused treatment for TB just to prove a point.

House swiveled his chair back and forth as he stared up into the darkness. The only light in his office came from the computer screen. The sun had already set for the evening and most of the staff had gone home. House himself should have left four hours ago but unfortunately for him his middle duckling had decided to use herself as a human lab rat requiring him to put in a few extra hours.

He winced, closing his eyes as the light suddenly came to life over head as Wilson stepped inside. "I'm sorry did I wake you?" He said in a not so apologetic voice as he sat down across from House placing a take out trey in front of the older doctor and one in front of himself.

"What is that?" He pointed to the trey in front of the oncologist before opening his own.

"That is mine." Wilson said as he smacked House's wrist as he reached to steal some fries from him. "Eat your own food. Or do I have to make train noises?" House mumbled something inaudible under his breath as he took a bite of his rueben and stuck his tongue out at the oncologist. "Now, thats mature."

"Where are the kids?" House asked as he succeeded in swiping a few fries with a victorious grin on his face.

"Ah, Foreman is getting a shower and Chase is in the lab." He covered his mouth politely as he spoke with a full mouth.

"And Mommy Dearest?"

"She's busy keeping the CDC off our backs while we figure out whats wrong." He paused for a moment to swallow before continuing on. "Apparently one of the lab techs snitched us out for not telling them about this."

* * *

_Hour 33_

The room slowly began to come into focus as Cameron opened her eyes. She blinked a few times trying to clear her vision. After a few moments she felt a sharp pain in her ribs. She couldn't move to see what it was but she knew it had to be a chest tube. The last thing she remembered was a severe tightening in her chest and she couldn't breath. Cameron gave a sigh as she realized that her lungs must have collapsed.

From where she lay she couldn't see the clock so she didn't know how long she had been out. Depending on the amount of sedatives given she could have been out for hours. Had House come up with anything new? Someone would eventually come in and she would ask them but for now she was alone.

* * *

Chase's face was hidden under a veil of blonde hair, his nose planted firmly in Cameron's file as he walked out of the lab. He needed more blood for tests so he was off draw some more. Rounding the corner he slammed into Foreman, the younger man fell to the ground with a thud dropping the file. "Sorry." He picked his self up and grabbed the file off the floor.

"You need to watch where you're going." Foreman stated as he readjusted his tie and followed the intensivist. "Where are you going?"

"I need some more blood for testing." He said as he pushed the button for the elevator.

"Has the Marburg test results come back yet?" He asked as the elevator doors slid open, both men stepped inside. Chase pressed the button instructing the elevator to take them to the ICU before he answered.

"No, they should be back with in the hour though." The rest of the ride was in silence. The silence was broken when they stepped out of the elevator. Screams of pain came from down the hall as they neared they discovered that they were coming from Cameron's room.

They rushed in just as their pagers went off. Quickly silencing them they turned to their friend. Tears were streaming down her face as she fought to keep from screaming though it was a battle she could not win.

"Up her morphine!" Chase called to the nurse standing at the side of her bed as he put the stethoscope to his ears to check if her chest tube had been dislodged. Luckily it was fine. But her heart rate had him worried. "Epinephrine!" He called. Foreman placed the syringe in his hand immediately. The dosage put her heart rate back to normal but did nothing for the screaming pain that plagued her. They could do nothing but wait for the morphine to kick in.

After a full minute it finally began to work. Cameron was no longer screaming but it was obvious she was still in a lot of pain. Now the only question was what had caused it. The nurses stood back out of the way and awaited orders from the doctors. Chase pushed past Foreman and puled the blankets down. As he opened her gown he saw the the lesions were at her neck. He sighed and was about to close her gown but he noticed two large bleeding soars rimmed with black at the base of each thigh.

* * *

_Hour 34_

Apoptosis is programmed cell death which makes necrosis unprogrammed cell death. During necrosis the phagocytes of the immune system attacks healthy cells and engulfs them thinking that they are dying cells. The lack of signaling makes it hard for the immune system to recycle the dead cells caused by the necrosis.

The conference room was silent save for the persistent thumping of House's cane. As if on cue the lab had called and informed them of a negative result for Marburg. The necrosis had begun. Time seemed to be slipping away to fast.

"We'll have to put her in a chemically induced coma." Wilson broke the silence at long last as he gave a heavy sigh from his perch in the corner. "The pain alone will kill her as it eats away the nerves under her skin." Everyone in the room new that it had to be done but they all feared that if she went under there was a good chance she wouldn't wake up again.

_

* * *

_

The soars were moving fast. Within the hour they were already covering both of Cameron's thighs. The morphine was only barely taking the edge off. Chase, Foreman, Wilson, and House all stood around her bedside. House held the syringe in his hand waiting for everyone to say their piece before he put her under. Tears welled up in her eyes both from the pain and the fear of her death as Wilson began to speak.

"Hey, Allison." He smiled warmly at her as he took her hand. "Don't worry we'll have you better in know time. We're just putting you under so that you won't feel the pain. You're gonna be fine." He was trying to believe those words but his faith in them was wanting. Foreman stepped up as Wilson moved out of the way.

"I still gotta even the score." He smiled at her as he wiped away a tear. "You saved my life, now its my turn to save yours. I'll be right here waiting when you come to. Promise." She smiled weakly at him and gave his hand a small squeeze before he moved to let Chase speak to her.

He was quiet for a moment as he held her hand. He wasn't quite sure what to say. But he had to say something and what if this was his last chance? No. He wouldn't let himself think that. House would find the answer. House always found the answer. "I... You've got nothing to worry about." He gave a glance up to House and then turned his attention back to Cameron. "House is the best there is. You'll be awake and arguing with him again in no time. Stay strong." He wanted to say more but he didn't want to say good bye so he gave her a bright smile and rejoined the rest of the group at the end of the bed.

"You're lucky." House said as he looked down at her. "I usually get in trouble for sleeping on the job. I think Cuddy likes you more then she likes me." The realness of the situation was starting to weigh itself in House's mind as he rolled the syringe around in his hand. "My mail is starting to stack up. You'll have a lot of work to do once we get you out of this." The rest of the team was silent. In House's own way he had just expressed that he liked having her around and that he was sorry for all the pain she was going through.

As more tears fell he slid the syringe into the IV. They all waited until she was under before solemnly walking out the door.


	15. Swine

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 15: Swine

_Hour 35_

Both Foreman and Chase were in the lab testing and retesting for everything they could think of anything to keep the thought of their friend's current condition as far away from their minds as they possibly could. Tiredness and grief had taken a back seat to the urgent need to find the cure in the precious little amount of time they had left, that Cameron had left. With every passing year we come closer to our deaths, with every passing hour Cameron grew closer to hers.

Time ticked away, another second gone, another minute, soon it would be another hour. And just as the time ticked away the disease marched on. The necrosis was at her waist now. If Cameron was awake she would be in unimaginable amounts of pain. If the men standing in the room had been able to hear her last thoughts before they put her under they probably would have cried as hard as she wanted to. Cameron felt the weight of her decision to inject herself with this disease. She tried to think again of why she had done it but found no real answer. Yes it had been to help Lily but Lily was dead and no one could help her now. She wanted to apologize, she wanted to tell them all that she was sorry for doing this but the words wouldn't come. She wanted to say goodbye.

Goodbye was a word that the others would not allow themselves to say. House would figure this out just in the nick of time like he always does, after all he is House. Chase struggled to keep the thought in his head, Foreman didn't allow himself to think of it at all. Cameron's death was not a possibility.

A new worry had surfaced in this case. The Center for Disease Control. Apparently one of the lab techs had dropped the ball on what was going on with Cameron. Cuddy had been able to buy them some time but would it be enough to find the cure?

The rapping of Foreman's fingers on the counter broke the silence. Chase glanced over at the neurologist giving him a weak smile as he noted the slight pale twinge to his normally dark skin. This case had been tough on everyone. Foreman was usually able to keep up a pompous exterior but the he felt drained at this point and found it hard to keep up. Even Chase could not keep his walls up that guarded his feelings his eyes had faded into a dull green only a speck of blue remained.

They wanted to speak, they wanted to reassure themselves that this would all work out but neither wanted to voice their fears and give life to them. Instead they shared a glance and clasped each others shoulders giving a light squeeze. Had it not been for the fact that they were firmly seated they would have jumped through the ceiling when the shrill cry of their pagers screamed through the air. A quick look at the display told them to go to the conference room. Abandoning their frivolous search with a sigh the two men headed out for diagnostics.

* * *

_Hour 36_

When they arrived House was standing at the white board which listed all of Cameron's symptoms. Another board had been set up beside that one and a fresh pot of coffee had been brewed. Wilson offered a cup to the two younger doctors as they looked over the set up. "What's up?" Foreman asked pointing towards the other board which was blank at the moment.

"What have we ruled out so far?" Sensing the beginning of a differential session Chase and Foreman gathered around the two boards and began to name the things they had already done.

"Marburg." Chase threw out their latest failed treatment.

"Leprosy." Foreman said. The list grew and grew with each passing minute until the new white board was full. The list contained Legionnaire's Disease, Rikketsial, Fungal Pneumonia, Sarcoidosis, Churg-Straus, Lupus, Multiple Nuerofibromatosis, Anthrax, Leishmaniasis, Filariasis, Fasciitis Necroticans, Pemphingus Vulgaris, and Cellulitus. They back tracked over everything that had been ruled out in both Lily and Alex Gale's cases as well as Cameron's.

"We know what its not. Now we just need to figure out what it is." House mumbled as he looked over the two white boards.

"That's a lot harder then it sounds, House." Wilson said as he handed the head of diagnostics another cup of coffee.

"Are you kidding? It's a walk in the park." House said facetiously as he took the red mug out of Wilson's hand and turned to his team. "What do we know about the Gale's?"

"Uh, Alex was in the Peace Corps, so he traveled a lot. Hannah is a school teacher." Chase said after picking up Lily's file.

"They live just outside of Princeton in the rural areas." Foreman added reading over Chase's shoulder.

"Since Alex traveled a lot they lived with his parents on a farm and still do." Chase said looking for anything vaguely relevant in the history but coming up short. Wilson was about to point out that there was nothing in the history that could help them but quieted himself when he noticed a slight movement as House cocked his head.

"What kind of farm?" He asked of his youngest duckling. Chase skimmed through the history until he found the answer House was looking for.

"Pig farm." He said. He wasn't sure of the significance of this bit of information but judging by the look on House's face, he did which was good enough for the team.

"What does that mean?" Foreman asked after House remained silent for a moment.

"Nipah." One word caused the other three doctors to look at the diagnostician quizzically.

"House, Nipah effects the respiratory system it doesn't cause skin lesions or necrosis." Foreman pointed out with an exasperated sigh. He knew it couldn't be Nipah.

"And it can't be transferred from human to human." Chase finished Foreman's line of thought with a similarly distraught look on his face.

"They're right, House. It's not Nipah." Wilson sighed is resignation and poured himself another cup of coffee.

"Not much is know about the Nipah virus. They had to make a new genus for it and everything, Megamyxovirus is the proposed name, I think. Its in the Paramyxoviridae family which makes very susceptible to mutation especially when mixed with another virus from that family. Namely the Hendra virus."

"So, you think this is a mutated strain?" Wilson asked, his interest now peeked again.

"There is a new strain of Nipah out of Malaysia." House was cut off by Chase who's voice almost squeaked with excitement.

"Alex had just came back from Malaysia when he got sick." They all focused their attention on House to see what he had to say.

"The new strain has more of an aggressive path then with the original. There has been no human cases but farmers say that their pigs rot away while they are still alive."

"Is their a treatment?" Foreman asked. He hadn't heard of this but then again he didn't stay up to date about Malaysian farm animals.

"Ribavirin has shown promise in testing." House said as he limped towards his office. "It's time I call in that favor that Lab Rat owes me."

"Lab Rat?" Chase asked of Wilson as House took a seat at his desk.

"House plays poker with him." Wilson said as he sat down. "Bryce Angle I think is his name. He owes House quite a bit of money so we should get the ribavirin within the hour."

* * *

_Hour 37_

Sure enough the ribavirin was delivered by way of helicopter since it was the fastest way to get it there and Lab Rat's debt was paid. Once again Foreman, Chase, Wilson, and House found themselves standing in Cameron's room. Cuddy had joined them as well.

"Are you sure this will work?" She asked as Chase prepared the treatment.

"We'll know in three hours if she is responding to treatment." House said while leaning heavily on his cane.

"In three hours she could be dead." Cuddy stated as she glared at the diagnostician.

"Then we'll know that I was wrong. But if she lives then we'll know that I'm right." Chase had finished preparations and gave one last look to House who nodded signaling him to go ahead. He inserted the new treatment into the IV jack and stepped away rejoining the rest of the group. "Draw some more blood and do an ELISA to test for the Nipah virus."

Chase complied after finishing drawing several tubes of blood he pulled back the covers to check on the necrosis once again. It was above her waist now, about mid way up her abdomen. House stepped up and looked over the young intensivist shoulder. "Its moving fast."


	16. Precious Moments

There is only one chapter remaining after this one. This one comes down to the question everybody wants to know the answer to. Will Cameron live, or will she die...

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 16: Precious Moments

_Hour 38_

It was only one hour in to the treatment and already House and the team were eagerly awaiting results. They knew that it would be another hour or two before they saw any sort of change in her condition but it still didn't change the fact that they wanted the answer now. Nurse Brenda had been given the rest of her shift off to sit with Cameron and report any change and to keep them informed about the state of the necrosis. According to her last update, the necrosis was now on Cameron's chest creeping towards her neck. The tubes of blood had been sent off to the lab where the ELISA was being preformed by the lab techs. Foreman and Chase had found it hard to focus on the test so they gratefully accepted when the techs had offered to do the test for them.

Wilson was sitting in the chair in front of House's desk, his legs crossed supporting a medical journal with an article about Nipah. He was only half reading it. It was hard to remain focused on the words on the page. His mind kept drifting back to her. He and Cameron had never been really close but he had always liked her. Wilson had wanted to explore a possible relationship with her at one point but decided it best not to since she worked for his best friend. What could have possibly made her inject herself in the first place? Once she was better he hoped she would answer that question for him.

Sitting across from Wilson in House's chair was Chase. A few strands on blonde hair falling into his eyes while he rested his chin in his hand and surfed through on line medical journals and anything else he could find on the Nipah virus. He held great faith in Dr. House, he was positive that this was the answer and in a few hours they could all breathe a sigh of relief and get some rest knowing that their friend and colleague was on the path to recovery. But still he could not help but feel his skin tingle, his breath shallow and quick with worry with each passing moment. Cameron would be just fine and things would get back to normal, well as normal as they can be at Princeton Plainsboro.

Finding it hard to reread and reread over every detail of the case files for Alex, Lily, and Cameron Foreman abandoned his post at the glass table and began brewing another pot of coffee. Coffee seemed to be the life blood of the group right now. He snickered to himself thinking of how bad Cameron's coffee was. You could always tell when she had made it of a morning, House would come strolling in, late as usual and pour a steaming cup. After on sip he'd get this look on his face that was a cross between an Asian man eating something sour and that lady on the bill board ads against meth. Foreman made a mental note to have Cameron make on of her special blends when she was fully recovered.

One person was absent from this little powwow; Dr. House. His leg wasn't bothering him to bad thanks to the resent refill of his vicodin curtsy of the boy wonder, Dr. James Wilson. But he still felt the need to walk, rather then pacing his office he decided to take a nice stroll through the halls and find out where his feet would lead him. He walked through the psych ward, the ICU, clinic, physical therapy, palliative care, and even pediatrics. With each step he became more frustrated. She had injected herself and for what! Some damn kid! She had lost her legs and any hope of a normal life and probably her medical license in the process. House would never admit even upon pain of death that he cared about his fellows and it pained him to see them sick or hurt. He stopped when he saw where his feet had led him this time, the lab. And there on the counter was a syringe full of Cameron's infected blood. The lab tech had his chubby face buried in the microscope mumbling something to himself and didn't notice House enter the room and slip the syringe into his pocket.

* * *

_Hour 39_

Rounding the corner House could see the three doctors in his office. Chase was sitting at his desk, naturally, it seemed if House wasn't in the chair that the intensivest would take up residence. Foreman was leaned over his shoulder looking at whatever was on the screen while Wilson was talking on the phone. All three turned their attention to House as he stormed through the door with a determined look on his face.

"Thank you." Wilson said as he hung up the phone with a sigh and folded his arms in his lap. "That was Brenda. So far no reaction to the treatment and the necrosis has now reached her shoulders." Both Foreman and Chase let out a sigh in unison as they hung their heads. "But we still have another hour until the treatment kicks in, then she should be..." Wilson was unable to finish his sentence when a very angered House decided to finish it for him.

"... fine." He said through gritted teeth as he paced back and forth. Chase and Foreman ignored the screen and instead focused their attention on House, surprised that there wasn't steam coming out of his ears. "She doesn't have another hour!"

"If the treatment works she will." Wilson said in a calming tone. He knew that this had been taking a toll on his friend, he was actually surprised it had taken him this long to have an out burst about it. "Everything points to Nipah and the only way it can be transferred from human to human is through blood."

"So, who's going to be next? I'll need a new idiot when Cameron kicks off." Chase, Foreman, and Wilson jumped as House slammed something down on the desk making him ball bounce out of its trey and onto the floor with a thud. When he moved his hand away they saw a syringe labeled Cameron, Allison WARNING: contaminated. "What about you Foreman, huh?"

"What?" Foreman said as he took a step back from the needle afraid that House might actually jab him with it. "Seriously House, you're losing mind. Get a grip." He wasn't sure if House was serious or not.

"No, not you. You've already had your turn with the Naegleria. How about Wilson?" The oncologist stiffened at his name and sighed as House turned on him with that smirk of his.

"House, stop it. You're acting like a child." He knew that House wouldn't actually stick him so he stood his ground as House limped in front of him and leered.

"No, you don't work for me so that would be no fun at all." Chase, who had been trying to sink into the chair in hopes of being forgotten gulped as House slowly turned his face to him. "But you on the other hand, not counting the time you got smacked by the mobster, have never been hurt or sick while under me. I think we have a winner."

"No, House." Chase wasn't sure whether or not to stand up and try to move away or to sit there and let House continue. House wouldn't actually infect him, would he? At this point he wasn't sure so he did stand up and made a weak attempt to hide behind the neurologist with out actually looking like he was hiding. "Look, everything is going to work out. Just calm down." Calm down? Since when does House calm down? Chase didn't try to hide the fact that he was using Foreman as a human shield when House picked up the syringe and took a step close to him.

"If any of you do anything as stupid as infecting yourselves with a deadly disease you won't have to worry about the disease killing you, I will." With that the syringe vanished as House shoved it into his pocket and stormed out the door. After a full five minutes of shock the doctors were able to move, Chase finally dislodging himself from Foreman with a shaky breath as they all tried to collect themselves.

As it neared the third hour of the treatment they all headed out the door to go to Cameron's room hoping that all of their work would pay off.

* * *

_Hour 40_

As they walked down the hall they saw Brenda at the nurse's station with a less then pleased look on her face. "What's wrong? I thought you were supposed to be with Cameron?" Wilson asked as they all stopped in front of the counter.

"Dr. House told me to get out." She replied as she slid a folder into the appropriate slot behind the counter. She had a firm dislike for the older man no matter how good of a doctor he was.

"House is with her now?" Chase asked, a little worried that he still had that syringe with him. Nurse Brenda said that he was so the other doctors went to join him. When they entered the room House was leaned against the far wall with his eyes closed. The monitors showed a small drop in Cameron's heart rate but nothing to be worried about. The necrosis was now at her jaw, they now knew why House's eyes were closed it was a hard sight to look at.

Chase noticed the syringe sitting on the counter next to her bed and decided it was safe to enter the room. Wilson went first though and stood next to his friend, followed by House's underlings who took up posts around the room. Now all that was left was to wait. "Since I've been in here," The other three men in the room jumped at the sound of House's voice. "the necrosis has moved from her chin to her jaw."

"How much has it eaten of her thighs?" Wilson asked. The smell that hung heavily in the air of puss and rot was almost nauseating but he was able to fight it. He wanted to be here both for her and for House.

When House shook his head signifying that he didn't know Chase moved from his perch on the counter and went to Cameron's side and pulled back the covers. Some blood from the soars was on her gown but that was to be expected. As for what was under the gown, he wasn't sure what to expect. The only one that had stayed by Lily's side was Cameron. He untied the last string and pushed the cloth away from her body. What he saw nearly made him vomit. Where her legs had been cut off and about half way up her thigh was nothing but a greenish black mush. The necrosis had to be the worst he had ever seen. The other doctors had to turn their eyes away from the sight, quickly Chase pulled the gown back over her not even stopping to tie it before covering her back up and stepping away.

Forty five minutes passed in uncomfortable silence as the vigil continued. In that forty five minutes the necrosis had covered her face and the heart rate continued to fall a few points at a time. If she were to flat line they wouldn't be able to use the defibrillator to bring her back because of the necrosis. Chase, Foreman, Wilson, and even House had begun to pray for the treatment to kick in. It could still save her.

More precious moments passed by in silence as they prayed with closed eyes. Not even at the shrill cry of the monitors did they open their eyes. After a few seconds House opened his and looked up at the clock. "Time of death, 2:56 am."

Numb. That is they only word to describe the feeling in each of them as one by one they opened their eyes. Wilson put a reassuring hand on House's arm out of sight of the other two and gave it a light squeeze as he saw the diagnostician lower his head in defeat. Foreman crossed the room and turned off the monitors. He would have cried had he been able to feel at the moment but there was nothing there. There were many prayers for the dead in the Catholic faith, several came to mind but Chase refused to utter a single one. Praying had never done him any good and it failed him for the last time as he glanced at the shell of what was once the beautiful, kind, caring Allison Cameron.

No one looked up as the door slid open but they recognized the clicking of heels as Cuddy walked into the room. She took in the weary blank faces of the doctors and then at the monitors. Cameron was dead. She felt the heavy sorrow tug at her heart as a single tear fell from her eye. Had it not been for the gruff noise of the man clearing his throat she would have forgotten he was there. "Umm." She paused to clear her own throat before continuing as the four men in the room finally turned to her. "This is..."

"Dr. Eli Larson." The short balding man interrupted as he pompously stepped in front of the Dean of Medicine. "I'm with the Center for Disease Control, I'll be taking over here." The four men had no registered emotions on their faces when he spoke though they were all slightly angered. With one final look at their fallen comrade they pushed past the man and disappeared down the hall.

* * *

A/N: There is one chapter left, I guess you could say its an epilogue. I'm eager to hear your thoughts and comments on this chapter, no flames please. 


	17. Diagnosis

Here we are, the last chapter. Thank you for all of the reviews over the story. I hope I was able to keep you all guessing.

**Disclaimer:** House MD is property of David Shore and Fox TV only the plot is mine.

**Haunted**

Chapter 17: Diagnosis

The only sound was the dripping of the faucet echoing loudly through the diagnostics lounge. It took a few moments for their brains to register the fact that this wasn't a dream. She was dead. Cameron was dead and they hadn't been able to save her. The numbness that had taken them in the room was gone, it was all to real now. They didn't need coffee to keep them awake now though their bodies were in need of reprieve sleep would be something none of them would find.

Foreman sat with a blank look on his face, eyes glazed over as he stared off into nothing. Guilt played heavily on his heart as he thought of how Cameron had helped save his life even though he had treated her badly after stealing her article. It ultimately served to bring them closer and allowed them to work better together. It had been a rocky road, their relationship, but it was one that he would miss. Foreman had never been much of a religious man but he did believe in God and hoped that Cameron had found a place in heaven. She would make a great guardian angel, he thought.

Resting his forehead on the cool glass table Chase did his best to fend off the tears that threatened fall from him. He hadn't allowed himself to think of the possibility that House would fail, now he wished he would have allowed himself to prepare for this. But how do you prepare for such a thing? It wasn't House's fault. Chase saw the defeated look on the diagnostician's face as the monitors let out their shrill cry and the reassuring hand that Wilson had offered to him. His mom died over ten years ago, his dad just a few months. Chase had no brothers or sisters, he was alone. And though he wouldn't admit it, the people he worked with was the only family he had and he cared for them deeply. Cameron was like the sister he never had, the realization that she was gone was almost to much for his heart to bare.

Though he did mourn her loss, Wilson tried to focus on House. With his specialty being in oncology he was used to seeing people die, though none as horribly as Cameron. He had always liked her, she was the heart of the group. Foreman was head strong and often put his own ego ahead of the patients, Chase put his job before anything else even if it meant neglecting the person placed in his charge. But Cameron had always cared about the patient, she had always been the one to fight House for their ethical protection like with the lesbian woman who was going to leave her partner. Wilson had always admired that quality and had marveled at her willingness to stand up to House. He would miss her.

Sitting at the end of the table opposite of Wilson, Dr. House sat with his head resting on the handle of his cane. His eyes were closed, he couldn't bring himself to look at his team. He had failed them. He knew how much they depended on him for the answers, how much Cameron had depended on him and yet he was not able to come through in the end. House knew that things would never be the same at Princeton Plainsboro again. His team would lose faith in him, he had to make it up to them some how. Perhaps he could convince Cuddy to give Foreman and Chase permanent positions in diagnostics after their fellowship was up. When it came down to it he depended on his team as much as they depended on him. He would not bring in a new doctor to replace Cameron, he would let her chair remain as empty as it was now.

Cuddy was surprised to see them all still here. She stood outside looking in at her doctors through the glass taking note of the empty seat between House and Foreman. Chase was sitting on House's right with his head down, he almost appeared to be seeping but she knew that he wasn't. Wilson sat at the end of the table watching House with his arms folded across his chest. No one noticed her standing out there, she hated to disturb them but she knew that they would want to know what Dr. Larson had planned. Slowly she placed her hand on the door and pulled it open. She wasn't surprised when none of the men looked up as she took a seat in the corner of the room.

After a full minute Wilson finally broke the silence in a soft voice. "We should contact her family so they can make funeral arrangements." Cameron's family had not been contacted before because she didn't want them to get in the way. In a way they were all glad about that, it would have been hard to explain all of this as it was happening.

"Contact her family yes. But there will be no funeral." Cuddy said in monotone. Four sets of eyes that had been previously hidden or closed now glared at her awaiting an explanation. "The Center for Disease Control is taking her body for testing. They are also resuming the bodies of Alex and Lily Gale. All three will be put into quarantine. They've already left with Cameron's body."

Cuddy's stomach turned as she thought of what she had witnessed moments ago. Dr. Larson's team put Cameron's body into a large bag with tubes and hoses sticking out of it then sucked out all of the air causing the bag to cling to her lifeless form. They then loaded the bag into a large silver cylinder container with several hoses attached to it that filled the chamber with nitrogen to freeze the body. She felt naked under the angry glares of the four men who had worked so hard to save Cameron. She knew that it was time for her to leave, she was unwanted there.

They all watched as she gave them a weak exasperated sigh and headed for the door. "I'm sorry, I did everything I could to stop them. She deserved better then this." A tear fell from her eyes but she quickly wiped it away and hurriedly walked out of the room.

House glanced at his neurologist, his eyes were still glazed over as he went back to staring at a spot on the wall. Glancing over at Chase he took in his down cast eyes and weary frame. They needed rest. "Go home." House said. Foreman looked over at his boss as if looking for some sort of conformation and then got up and walked out the door. He didn't want to be at the hospital any longer, he wanted to be home so he could forget about this whole thing.

Chase hadn't moved or even acknowledged that House had spoke. Wilson gave a weak smile and stood to leave as well, he wasn't quite ready to go home but he wanted to give House a moment with his youngest duckling. As the door closed leaving the two of them in the room alone House put a hand on Chase's shoulder. "Chase." He said softly as Chase turned his face to look at House.

"You need to go home and get some rest." Chase shook his head, the numbness had once again taken over when he heard what the CDC was doing to her. He wanted this to all be a dream, he wanted to wake up and it everything go back to the way it was, the way it was supposed to be. "Chase?" House gave him a light shake when once again he didn't move. Chase had been facing House but he had not looked at him. As he brought his dim blue green eyes to meet the blue pools that were staring at him House couldn't help but feel a stab of pain at the sadness behind them. "Go home." The words finally registered and the young intensivest stood and slowly walked out the door.

When Chase was no longer in sight House ran a trembling hand through his hair and breathed a few staggering breathes before standing and shutting off the lights. As he was about to leave the phone in his office rang. He caught it on the third rang and put the receiver to his ear. It was a short conversation, once he hung up the phone he made his way out the door and headed for the elevators popping a two vicodin along the way.

"House." Wilson called as he saw his friend stop in front of the elevators and push the button with his cane. The oncologist stopped at his side as waited for the elevator doors to open. "When are the ELISA results supposed to be back?"

"They are. I just got a call from Cuddy. Negative for Nipah." House gave a defeated sigh to his friend as the elevator doors opened.

"Well, did you at least learn anything about the disease?" Wilson asked as House stepped inside. He hoped that House had at least been able to get something helpful out of this whole ordeal.

"Not a damn thing. She died for nothing." The doors started to close but House stopped then by sticking out his cane. "But there is a bright side though."

"What is that?" Wilson asked confused. If he hadn't learned anything new that would help in diagnosing or treating this then what good could have come from it all?

"At least she gets a disease named after her." He removed his cane allowing the elevator doors to slide shut as a puzzled oncologist stared and crossed his arms. Cameron's disease. If nothing else at least she brought awareness to it. Maybe someday a cure could be found.

END


End file.
